


Legend Of The Crow

by Calix



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Chara is a boy, Crow - Freeform, Death, F/M, Flashbacks, Reader is implied a girl but can be any, Sad, Timelines, frisk is a boy, talking about death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-08-16 03:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8084569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calix/pseuds/Calix
Summary: As Crow of The Underground it is your job to see the souls of all the monsters into the afterlife. But when a series of events happens involving a certain prince and his human brother you can't just let things end as they are.Asriel X ReaderNo smut!





	1. Prelude

“Chara.... I’m scared... I’m so scared...”

“Well if you had followed the plan in the first place.... YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO BE!”

Asriel crumpled into the flowers that grew around his parent’s thrones. Blood oozed out from the countless wounds that covered the monster child’s body. His clothes ripped to shreds with one eye swollen shut. The pain was excruciating. It felt like his body was starting to fall apart. As if it was.... Going to turn to dust. 

Fear surged through him. Dust. He was going to turn to dust. He was going to die without having helped anyone. Not even Chara. Mom and Dad were going to lose both their children in a matter of days. His brother was right. He should have just stuck to the plan. If he had gone through the barrier and came back with the souls then Chara wouldn’t have merged their souls for nothing. Everyone would be free, including him. But because he couldn’t do it... Because he was to much of a crybaby he had backed out. Now he was going to die here on the floor of his parent’s throne room.

Tears streaked down his blood matted fur. Chara’s constant chant of “Stupid! Idiot! Crybaby!” the only thing he can hear. No one else was around. He had done this without telling anyone and it was early morning. The light in the room making all the colors pop. No one was going to find him until it was already over. Until he was already nothing more than a supercharged soul and dust.

All the colors began to blur as the edges of his vision started to go black. He reached out a hand towards the door. Hoping that he could see his parents one last time. The sight only caused a strangled sob to escape his throat. His fingers were already falling apart. The dust scattering across the golden flowers that his father loved so much. This was a good a place as any to die. His parents would be able to visit him everyday when they tend the garden.

Trying to hold back sobs the darkness continued to fill his sight until there was nothing but black. The pain in his body faded as his body turned into nothing. All that was left was the darkness.

Asriel was laying on a floor but he knew there shouldn’t be anything there. He looked around. Seeing nothing but the darkness that had consumed his vision. Was this really what happened after death? You just wandered around in endless darkness? 

“You dragged that out longer than needed.” Asriel’s brother stepped into view. His arms crossed against his yellow and green striped shirt. He looked slightly amused but there was anger behind his eyes. The brief relief at seeing his brother soon vanished at the snarky tone of his words.

“Easy enough for you to say... You didn’t have to feel it. You didn’t have to get hit and stabbed over and over! YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO FEEL YOUR BODY FALL APART!” Asriel’s voice cracked at the end. He stood up from his laying down position. “It was a stupid plan! We would both be alive if we hadn’t of done it! Now Mom and Dad are alone!”

Chara hissed at the tone in his voice. “Are you kidding me? It’s YOUR fault the plan didn’t work! YOU were the one who got cold feet and backed out at the last second!” He pressed forward and pushed Asriel who ended up stumbling back a couple steps from the force. “If you had followed like you were supposed too... We would be bonded forever. Like we both wanted and everyone.... EVERYONE in the Underground would be free right now. But nooooooo...” Chara stepped up so that he was all up in Asriel’s face. “You had to chicken out while I lay dying. DYING! Do you know how scared I was when you backed out?”

Frustrated tears started to form in Chara’s eyes and his voice was starting to shake. Asriel looked at him confused. “Scared? You didn’t cry once! You left in your sleep!” his voice starting to shake like Chara’s.

“Of course not! You were crying to much as it was!” The tears finally crested. Starting to fall down his cheeks. “I knew there was no way that I would survive after eating those flowers. YOU knew I wouldn’t! Then the fever set in and you backed out.... I felt so hurt... So betrayed... But I couldn’t show you that!” Quickly, he wiped the tears from his eyes before laying into Asriel again. “I thought for sure that you would go through with it once our souls merged and you walked through the barrier. But you didn’t, like the cry baby idiot you are! You had all that power... It wouldn’t have been hard... But no. Now you are here. Like me!”

Asriel’s lips were quivering from the fear and sadness that was consuming him. But worse was the guilt. He had betrayed his brother. If he hadn’t of liked the idea he should have spoken up more. Yet he hadn’t. So now here they were. In this limbo sort of place with just each other for company. Asriel dropped his head. Looking at his feet on the black floor. “I’m sorry....”

A bitter laugh erupted from Chara. “Your sorry? YOUR SORRY? KINDA LATE FOR THAT!”

“B-but Chara...”

“NO! I WON’T HEAR IT! YOU ARE STUPID! AN IDIOT! IF YOU HAD STUCK WITH THE PLA-”

“Chara....”

“Instead... YOU STAYED YOUR CRYBABY IDIOTIC SELF AN-”

“Alright. I have heard enough.”

Both boys turned their heads in the direction of the new feminine voice. Somehow in the darkness there was a dark figure. You stepped forward and it was as if the darkness moved out of your way. Their eyes scour your form but are immediately drawn to the tribal tattoo of a crow that lines your left eye. Your black wings ruffle a bit causing their eyes to move from the tattoo to them. They back up a bit at your approach. Asriel trembling and trying to hide behind his brother.

“W-Who are you?” Chara demanded. His previous rant forgotten. You loomed over the two children despite being sort of short.

“You know who I am.” You ignore the fear in the young boy’s voice. It wouldn’t help matters if you fueled it. It would just make it harder.

“No we don’t... We’ve never met you.” Asriel spoke up from behind.

“You haven’t met me but you have heard of me.” You stopped advancing a few feet short of them. Giving them their space since they were wary of you. “Maybe I should give you a refresher. Chara. Asriel.”

Their eyes went wide at the mention of their names. “How do you know our names?” The goat boy’s voice squeaked a bit.

“Have you been listening to us?” Chara’s eyes darkened almost having a reddish tint.

“Kinda hard not to.” You smirked at them. “But I knew who you were before this. I’ve been watching you two for a long time.”

“How? Why? Who are you?” The human boy demanded. Putting a protective arm in front of his monster brother. Despite everything, he still wanted to protect him. How sweet.

“They call me Crow.” You said simply as you knelt down to their level.

Asriel stepped out from behind his brother. “So... You’re the grim reaper?”

“What?” Chara looked back at the goat child confused.

“Chara... You know what I’m talking about. She’s Crow. From that bedtime story Mom used to tell us. Legend of the Crow. How did it go....” Asriel looked at his hands in thought for a minute before it came back to him. “It goes.... People and Monsters once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes something so bad happens, that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can’t rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow could bring that soul back to put the wrongs right.”

“That’s why you are here.” You gestured to the darkness around you. “This is the place were I take souls to the realm of the dead.” 

“You’re here to take us away?” Chara’s voice was now showing his fear.

This was going downhill fast. Now both of them were scared of you. In a brilliant light, your adult form changed into that of a child version of yourself. The tattoo was in the same place and the wings were smaller. “That’s my job. I keep an eye on all the residents of the underground.”

“I don’t want to leave! We can’t! This isn’t right!” Asriel stepped forward tears streaming down his furry cheeks. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! This just isn’t right! We can’t just leave Mom and Dad!”

“How did you do that? How old are you?” Chara was eyeing your new form with interest. His brother already voicing his concerns.

“I don’t have an age. I’m whatever is most convenient.” You looked Chara in the eye as you answered his questions before turning to Asriel. “I agree with you. This isn’t right. Two foolish children dying for a good cause. And quite brutally too... The turmoil and sadness in your souls is great. I can’t take you with the two of you as is. Especially with the sadness that will bring to everyone else.”

Chara’s eyes narrowed at you suspiciously. “Then why are you here?”

“I’m here to help you.” You stand back up. Now the same size as the two boys before you. “There are several wrongs that need to be righted here. But I can’t bring you back. Because there is no body for you to go back to.”

“What are you going to do then?” Asriel takes a timid step towards you.

You give him a shrug. “I have my ways. But for now....” Walking past Chara, you stand directly in front of the small goat monster. A brilliant light blinded the three of you as you placed a kiss on Asriel’s forehead. When it faded the three of you stood in the throne room. Asriel’s clothes and dust were no longer scattered among the flowers. Both the boys looked around in confusion. “I shall give you the strength and abilities needed to survive. We’ve been talking for a long time. Now this may take a while but I must ask the two of you to be patient. Your souls are completely merged but that will change over time. Soul merging doesn’t last beyond death.” You stepped back as the sound of footsteps down the hallway reached your ears.

A small yellow dinosaur monster in a lab coat walked in with a syringe. Tears and determination were in her eyes. She knelt down, picking up the first flower that had bloomed. Using the syringe, she injected something into it. The flower beginning to glow.

Asriel gasped. His soul being pulled towards the flower. He looked at you. Frightened. You give him a reassuring smile. “As I said I have my ways. Go.”

He nodded his head and allowed his soul to meld with the flower until it became him. Chara remained next to you. Watching it all happen with a bit of resentment and jealousy.  
“Why does he get a body?”

“Because this is the first wrong righted. Plus in order for me to help you two certain things will need to happen.” You give Chara a smile. “Just be patient.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flowey is getting frustrated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Everyone! Now that I have your attention, this story will be updated weekly! It will go p every Friday except this week's from now on until it is done!

“Flowey... I-I don’t understand..”

“Of course you don’t.” The golden flower seemed to deflate at the tall goat monster’s words. He eyed the ground as anger seemed to consume him. “ You never do.... Well understand THIS!” 

Toriel cried out in surprise and pain as her body was impaled with several thorny vines. Her eyes went dull while her body turned lifeless. The vines removed themselves from her form that was already turning into dust. The goat monster’s soul floating above her battered body.

“Asriel! What the hell are you doing?” You stepped out from where you watched the whole thing from the shadows.

“It’s Flowey now..... And why not? This is the first time I have felt something since the first reset!” The flower turned his attention to you and his face was full of anger. Anger and hate. He turned and looked at his mother’s soul now floating above a pile of clothing and ash. “ You’re the Crow of the Underground aren’tcha? Why don’t you take her SOUL to the land of the dead?!”

You narrowed your gaze at the venomous golden flower. He had practically spat that last sentence at you. Then again this was to be expected. Ever since you had influenced that scientist to bolster the plant with determination.... Combining it with what Chara’s SOUL had given him.... It had given Asriel the power to reset and he has used it. A lot. Every single time a little thing went wrong in the time line, the child had reset. 

Which was a good thing. You needed this to happen. With each time line, you gave a little bit of influence into it. Each time line was different. Even if Asriel had noticed or not. But after thousands of resets this was a first. The child had never killed another before this. Why had he felt the need now? You knew the vessel that he was contained in had affected him but not to this degree. If he kept this up, he could hinder your plans....

“Flowey....” The name sounding odd on your tongue. Flowey the flower. Did he get his naming prowess from his father? A faint memory wanted to rear it’s head but now wasn’t the time. You crossed your arms and leaned against the pillar nearby. “If I took her soul to the afterlife she wouldn’t come back. Even if you reset. The fact that her soul hasn’t faded at all is due to my influence.” Your voice was calm but stern. “You shouldn’t have done that.... She’s your mother! Reset. Now!”

“Why should he?” A small human boy stepped out from across the room. His once normal demeanor tinged with a bit of insanity. The once bright innocent eyes of the child were now dark and tinted red. He let out a creepy laugh as he got closer to the center of the room were Flowey sprouted. “I say screw all of those monsters. What have they ever done for us?”

“I should have known....” You glared at the apparition of the human boy. “Shut your mouth now.... Leave him be.”

“The hell you talking about?” Flowey cocked his head at you clearly confused.

You glanced at the confused flower. “More like... Who am I talking too?”

“Who are you talking too?”

“Who do you think?” Your voice betraying some of the hatred that you had pent up for the small human boy. At first, you had felt sorry for him. But as the years of resets continued on, he became twisted and vengeful. Almost bloodthirsty. Now it was taking all your willpower to even stand being in the same room as him.

“Chara’s here?” The once angry voice that the flower child had now turned hopeful. Elated. “I haven’t been able to see him ever since I awoke in this form....” 

There was a lot of things he couldn’t do in that form and a pang of sadness burned in your chest. But there wasn’t anything you could do now. Everything had already been set in motion. Whether you all were ready for it or not.

Despite everything, Asriel still loved his brother. Chara laughed at your words, completely unfazed. “You think I’m going to leave him alone? He’s a complete crying mess without me.”

Ignoring Chara, you relax your gaze on the small flower. “He’s always with you. Your SOULS have barely begun to separate.”

“Well, maybe we would have separated by now if you hadn’t put me in this worthless body!” The venom was back in Flowey’s voice. He was rather quick to switch between emotions while in that state.

“Certain things have to happen before we can fix everything.” You say calmly. “You just have to trust me.”

“Yeah, right. All you have done is sit on the sidelines and watch through each reset. Well no more!” He growled out as Chara put a hand on one of his petals. The flower’s features turning sadistic. “I say we kill them all this time! What are you going to do? Stop me?”

It was as if Chara had taken possession of the flower. An evil laugh emitted from Flowey, making your stomach curl. He then turned away from you and vanished into the ground. A pained cry of surprise rang out in the ruins a couple moments later with several others following its haunting sound. Slowly, you followed the mad flower’s trail. The SOULS and ashes of monsters filling the halls.

No. You weren’t going to stop him. You knew what he was going to do. He was going to continue on this murdering rampage and then reset. Only just like every other time.... No one will remember. That’s the power of a reset. Starting something new. The only constants being Chara, Flowey, and yourself. At least to the children’s knowledge. But each time something remained. Each time another puzzle piece fell in place for the ending you were working towards. Whether or not Flowey’s genocidal rage would hinder or help.... You weren’t sure. But all you could do was watch and wait for him to trigger the reset.

So you watched as Flowey brutally murdered everyone he knew and loved. The cries of joy and laughter from the two children sending chills down your spine. You watched while you stood in the King’s throne room as Flowey killed his father just as he had killed his mother. Quickly and without any mercy.

You felt the familiar darkness of the reset just as Asgore’s body completely turned into dust. His son’s homicidal laughter still ringing throughout the underground. It didn’t take long before you and Flowey stood in the entrance of the ruins. In the same spot where you had your conversation just moments before.

Flowey’s laughter was still going strong. “Oh! This is so much fun!” He turned in your direction with a horrific smile on his face. “Let’s do it again!” At that he left you where you were and the cries of the damned monsters rang out once again. This time you didn’t follow. You closed your eyes and waited for the reset. Hopefully, he will have gotten it out of his system. Then you can get the time lines back on track.

Kill.

Reset.

Kill.

Reset.

Kill.

Reset.

Kill.

Reset.

Kill.

Reset.

The human that you had begun manipulating to come to Mt. Ebott was just about to fall into the underground. Using your power, you changed their luck. Instead of falling into the pit they fell backwards and crawled away. Glad to escape with their life. You turned just in time to see Flowey brutally kill a poor Froggit. If that human had fallen, they would have been killed immediately. Their SOUL claimed by Flowey and his power would grow. That’s not what you needed. It seems you would have to place your plans on hold. You couldn’t trust Flowey. You couldn’t trust Asriel.

Wanting to escape the strangled cries of the monsters, you headed to waterfall. With a heavy sigh, you sat down on the water’s edge. The sound of the roaring waters drowning out anything else. You laid back onto the dirt floor with your eyes closed. What were you going to do? How were you going to get the flower to see reason? If things continued on this way then this will never end. It’ll just be an endless cycle of death and resets. A cycle that you would have to stop. Forcing your hand as Crow would damage so much....

You felt a thorny vine wrap around your throat. It’s thorns digging into the soft skin of your neck as it applied a strong pressure. You grabbed the vine and ripped it off effortlessly. “That won’t work on me.”

“I figured it wouldn’t.” Flowey sprouted up next to your head. “But if you were playing dead, I figured I could help you make it look more realistic.”

“Why aren’t you off killing everyone else?” Your voice even as you stared at the ceiling.

Flowey huffed at your question. “What I can’t take a break?”

“That didn’t stop you the past 50 or so resets.” You opened your eyes and looked at him. The presence of his human brother nowhere to be found. So that’s why. Chara wasn’t influencing him at the moment.

He settled back on his stem, looking at the ceiling like you had. “Why didn’t you stop me?” The hate and anger that once was in his voice was gone. Instead is sounded small. Sad.

“Because it wouldn’t have done any good. Even if I forced a reset that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t just do it again.”

“I KILLED MY PARENTS!” The shrill cry erupted from the flower, echoing throughout the waterfall’s cave. “I killed everyone.... And it felt good! I was actually able to feel something....”

You watched as tears started to form in the young flower’s eyes. The inner turmoil finally starting to get to him. “I know..... But it won’t last.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Eventually, the elation of killing will fade and you will feel nothing.” You sat up, hugging your knees to your chest. “Then you will be the essence of a soul within a hollow husk once again.”

“NO! I DON’T WANT THAT!” 

Several vines sprang up from the dirt around your body and enveloped your entire being. Only your head sticking out at the top. Tears streamed down Flowey’s cheeks. You felt the vines squeeze on your body. It would have killed a normal person or monster easily.

“I WANT TO FEEL AGAIN! I DON’T WANT TO BE A FLOWER ANYMORE!” Flowey’s stem grew until he was was face to face with you. “YOU SAID YOU WOULD HELP US! YOU SAID YOU WOULD FIX THE WRONGS!”

“I am.”

“HOW? BY MAKING US SUFFER?!”

“Nothing truly gained can be got without suffering in some way.” You stood up, uprooting the vines as you did. They fell to the ground lifeless. “I know it must be hard, Asriel.” Reaching out, you pulled the golden flower into a strong but gentle hug. Making sure not to crush him in your arms. “In order to break the barrier, the king will need seven human SOULS. Once he gets those, he can absorb their power and the barrier will be gone.”

“THEN WHY AREN’T YOU DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT?” The flower sobbed into your shoulder.

“Once again, I am. I have been working with other Crows so that I can lure 7 SOULS here.” You give Flowey a good squeeze before backing up a bit so you were eye to eye. “But I can’t bring them here with you killing every living thing in sight.”

The flower rested his head on your shoulder at your words. “What do you want me to do?”

“Keep doing the resets, Asriel and....” You placed a kiss on his forehead. The crow tattoo fading into existence for a few moments before leaving the same way it came. “Remember to trust me. Everything I do, I do for a reason.”

Flowey looked unsure. He looked like the lost child that he was as he gazed up at you with solemn tired eyes. “I’ll.... I’ll try....”


	3. Chapter 2

“You kind of deserved that.” You said as you stepped out of the shadows in the ruins. A smirk on your face. Flowey cast you an evil glare. His petals still smoldering from the fire magic that Toriel had used on him to protect the human child. He shook his head until the smoke went out.

“Shut up, you IDIOT!” The angered flower spat at you but you just laughed at him. He looked so funny with burnt petals.

Walking up to him, you pat the top of his head. “Well, if you hadn’t of threatened the human....This wouldn’t have happened!”

“It’s not like the woman would save the kid every time! How many times did I kill the previous 6?” 

Your face settled into a rather smug look. You ruffled the feathers of your wings nonchalantly. “True and yet you still don’t have a single human SOUL.”

“Hm.... I wonder why THAT is....” Flowey kind of slumped down on his stem as he said it. Despite the fact he was trying to challenge you, he had let the facade drop. The poor guy was still grumbling over the loss at the chance of getting a human SOUL without you somehow butting in. You had watched the whole thing.

A small child with brown hair and a blue and purple stripped shirt had fallen down into the underground. At first, they were scared. Looking around the small room of the ruins just waiting for something bad to happen. But nothing did. So they got up with renewed determination and started to look for a way out. That’s when they walked right into Flowey’s trap. Just like the previous 6 children had done.

The flower creature would appear before them as a sweet, innocent, talking flower. He would speak in this horribly sweet voice while explaining things to them. Then when their guard was dropped, he would show them how it works but he would actually attack them. It wasn’t a quick and merciful attack either. The thing was brutal. Flowey loved playing with his prey.

After being betrayed by the flower, the child would then try to escape but Flowey would effortlessly cut them off. Sometimes his attacks would hit home and the child would die. When that happens you would quickly reset it. Making sure that the flower child didn’t get the soul. It had happened before and it hadn’t turned out well the few times it had. You didn’t need him any more powerful than he already was. Other times, Toriel would come to the child’s rescue by either grabbing the child or attacking Flowey. That’s what had just happened.

Flowey had attacked the child and Toriel had stepped in to save them. Though Flowey being set on fire was a first. Even after the thousands upon thousands of resets. You giggle at the memory prompting the flower at your feet to groan in annoyance. Loudly. He wraps a thorny vine around your mouth so you’ll shut up. Even making it squeeze your skull. “Will you SHUT UP already! It’s not like anything has changed! This isn’t the first time that he has been down here! I mean, how was Chara reincarnated anyway?!”

This was true. The child that had fallen down (which you later learned his name was Frisk) this time had actually fallen down several previous times. Ever since Frisk had arrived, the power to reset vanished from Flowey and moved to the human child. The sheer power of determination that the child had was the only reason that had made the power switch. Only one person had the power to reset and that was the one with the most determination. That is the one rule that you had made once you began helping Asriel and Chara. The one rule that forever closed off the Underground from the outside world until your job was completed.

But Asriel’s brother had immediately picked up on the change. He attacked Frisk’s SOUL the moment he was in the Ruins. Scaring him. Telling him that he was going to die. That the monsters of the underground would kill him without any mercy. This prompted the first genocide route that wasn’t done by Flowey. Frisk killed every monster that he encountered. Not even giving them a chance to talk.

A nasty chain of events then followed. As Frisk continued to kill the monsters, his SOUL became more and more corrupt until Chara took, completely, over the child’s body. Flowey was so happy. He knew that it was Chara, who was in control, and he was ecstatic that his brother finally had a body. The flower followed him throughout the rest of the run. Only to become more and more scared of his brother as he progressed. Being inside the flower had prevented Flowey from seeing his brother’s decent into madness. One you had gotten front row seats to. Actually fearing for his life, Flowey had gone straight to Asgore in an attempt to stop Chara. To warn him about the impending danger only to have Chara walk in just as he started the conversation.

In a desperate attempt to placate Chara and prove himself useful, he had killed Asgore. Preventing his brother from getting the kill. Flowey pleaded with Chara to spare him. That he was always there for his brother. But the thousands of resets had messed with the human boy so bad, he was no longer the same person he was when he was alive. Chara commenced to kill Flowey. Stabbing him over and over with the knife he had found.

He then went to go beyond the barrier with Asgore’s SOUL. But you wouldn’t let it happen. You had watched in tears as Chara murdered his brother in cold blood. This had gone all wrong. Chara was just supposed to wait but instead had taken all that you had worked towards and thrown it in the dirt. He now controlled the lives of every single SOUL in the Underground. There was no way in hell you were going to allow him past the barrier to annihilate the humans as well.

So before the possessed child had a chance to grab Asgore’s SOUL, you forced a reset. Bringing all of Chara’s work back to ground zero. Well almost. With his determination combined with Frisk’s, he had managed to remain in control of the body. From then on, a war between you, the crow, and Chara was on. All the other genocide resets were Chara acting out his anger on everyone. In an attempt to get a monster soul, so that he could break free of the underground. So many resets..... Just to have victory thrust beyond his grasp when you stopped him from attaining the one thing he needed. A boss monster SOUL.

Eventually, he had given up on breaking through. Instead, he settled for torturing and killing just because he knew you were watching. Chara knew there was nothing you could do about it until either Frisk took control again or another human with even more determination fell down. That last one was rather unlikely. So the horrid cycle of death and resets continued.

Yet.... This time was different and you knew it. You knew the moment that the brown-haired human had woken up in the first room of the Ruins. Everything you had been working towards was finally going to come to fruition.

“HELLO? HEY, YOU THERE?”

You blinked as you were pulled out of your thoughts on the past resets to see Flowey right up in your face. He was waving one of his leaves inches from your nose. Not only was your mouth wrapped in a vine but your whole body. You flash him a big grin and begin to pull the vines off. “Sorry about that. Guess I was lost in my own little world.”

“That means the Underground, doesn’t it?”

“Well.... I guess, technically, that is true. The Underground is my domain after all.”

“That’s just great. We have a killer human on the loose and the Crow of the Underground is just standing there daydreaming!” Flowey started to go into a rage about how worthless and unhelpful you were. That all you did was make the monsters suffer needlessly, etc, etc..... This wasn’t the first time you had heard this rant.

Once you were free from Flowey’s vines, you placed a finger to his mouth to shut him up. “You know, as well as I do, that this time is different.” The crow tattoo appearing on the flower’s forehead when you touched his mouth.

Flowey pulled his head back a bit. The angered expression morphing into one of shock. “You.... You mean....”

“All of this will be ending soon....” You walked a little past the flower towards the hall that Frisk had disappeared down with Toriel. “Even though Chara had hindered things by taking control of Frisk.... It was beneficial.”

“HOW WAS IT BENEFICIAL?” Flowey roared behind you. “HE KILLED SO MANY TIMES!”

“When was the last time that you felt Chara’s influence on you, Asriel?” You heard Flowey start to speak then stop. Silence settled between the two of you as he tried to remember. “That’s what I thought. Because Chara went to possess Frisk, it sped up the process of separation with your SOULS. You are both completely separate entities again.”

“And that’s good...?”

“It’s what we needed to happen before the last puzzle piece fell into place. Chara’s SOUL was still being bolstered by yours. Even when he went to possess a human host. It’s how he was able to take over initially. But now that you are separate, he no longer gets that boost.” You turn back and flash Flowey a big smile. “A human SOUL can’t absorb another human SOUL. Same goes for monsters. Now that he no longer has that boost, he isn’t strong enough to keep Frisk trapped anymore.”

You watch the realization of the situation dawn on Flowey’s face. He looks to the floor then, quickly, back up to you. “If Chara’s not in control... That means all of this...”

“The wrongs will finally be righted.”

The array of emotions that flashed across the flowers face had you raising an eyebrow at him. It ranged from happiness, relief, to rage and disbelief. “There’s no way.... I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!”

“Asriel.... What was my promise to you?”

Flowey’s petals drooped a bit, looking like a chastised child. “That you would help us right all the wrongs and to trust you because everything you do is for a reason.”

“Then trust me.” You say as you walk back over to Flowey. “Think about it. If Chara was still in control then we would have heard the dying cries of the monsters in the ruins by now. I don’t know about you....but I haven’t heard a peep.”

“Frisk will kill.... You watch.... Then it’ll just repeat itself over and over.... Just like always....” At that, Flowey disappeared into the ground, leaving you alone in the ruins. 

“Not this time.” You whisper to yourself.

It was only natural for the kid to be skeptical. So many bad things have happened in order for you to get this far... It was complete luck that Chara’s decision to possess Frisk had been the final key in obtaining what you wanted. Both boys had been through so much... That they were complete shadows of their former selves. Especially Asriel....

A flower was never meant to have a SOUL meaning that even if a SOUL is placed with in it, it wouldn’t act right. In Asriel’s case, it had removed his ability to feel any emotion. He couldn’t empathize, love, or be happy. The poor boy felt nothing in that hollow husk and it has affected him in horrible ways. If everything goes as planned.... Will he be able to go back to his old self? Or will he forever be trapped?

You let out a sad sigh, then headed down the path to Toriel’s house. With Chara, a bloodthirsty killer, and Asriel, an emotionless sociopath,.... In the end... Will you have truly helped either of the boys?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must say that I absolutely loved writing this story. Flowey is so sassy!
> 
> Also if you ever feel like you want to help out you can always [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A42392N)


	4. Chapter 3

Frisk giggled lightly as he wiggled his hips to a Moldsmal, who sexily wiggled back. You weren’t sure how it was sexy but it was. Flowey peered out at Frisk from his position behind your legs as you watched. Using you as a shield so that the human child wouldn’t find him, even though you had it so that Frisk couldn’t see you. When normally he could. The flower’s eyes were narrowed in suspicion as the two of you watched the silly conversation unfold. “You watch… He’ll kill them. It’ll continue on like this until you reset again. Just watch.”

“I am watching.” You stated simply and then tried to mimic Moldsmal’s sexy wiggle. It was actually a lot harder than it looked. “Am I doing this right?”

Flowey looked at you with disgust. “Why are you even trying to attempt it at all?”

“Why not?” You try again and this time it looked pretty good. At least you thought so. Flowey didn’t appear to be to impressed with your attempts. “If this is going to be reset all over again then we might as well have a little fun.”

“FUN?! YOU THINK THIS IS FUN?!” Flowey scoffed at you before quickly darting behind the nearest wall as Frisk turned back to see where the loud noise had come from. After a few moments of hearing and seeing nothing, the human child spared the Moldsmal and moved on to the next spot in the ruins.

You laughed at Flowey’s reaction and continued to improve upon Moldsmal’s sexy wiggle. “Yeah, so? Come on, you have to admit I’m doing a good job.” The look Flowey gave you was one that said that he was done with you but it just made you laugh again.

He may appear to be completely done with you but he wasn’t leaving your side. Not even to go after Frisk. You stopped your wiggling when you saw the contemplative look that was now on the small flower’s face. Waiting patiently to voice what he wanted to say. “You don’t understand… this is probably just a new form of torture that Chara is inflicting on us. Giving us a false sense of hope only to crush us at the very end.”

Knowing how Chara was now, that normally wouldn’t be too far from the truth. Despite the fact that Chara had killed him countless times, you could tell that Flowey still loved his human brother very much. Maybe he even still blamed himself for all that has happened. You hid the piteous look that your face wanted to give the monster child. “Even though I wouldn’t put it past Chara to do that… and to be honest I’m rather surprised that he hasn’t yet. I think I can tell when two SOULS have been completely separated.” You gave Flowey an encouraging wink but it didn’t seem to get across. “Man… What happened to the happy little flower who used to give nice cream to everyone in the underground?”

Flowey seemed to grimace at one of the nice things he did in one of the earlier resets he had done. “He became cold and tired a very long time ago.”

“I don’t know…” You knelt down so that you could gently touch one of his singed yellow petals. “You look a little _hot_ to me.”

“Did you just say a pick up line pun?!” Flowey was looking at you with such an incredulous look that you couldn’t hold back the laughter that spewed forth.

“Oh come on! You used to do them with me! Hell, you even went to that one skeleton for pointers.” A big smile was on your face but Flowey was now looking away from you so he couldn’t see it. 

Flowey bristled. “Fucking Smiley Trashbag…”

“What was that?” You feigned innocence at Flowey’s mumbling about said skeleton.

“I just don’t see how you can be having fun right now.” The flower stated, deciding to change the subject away from the skeleton.

How could you not? After everything that has happened, your plans were finally coming to fruition. This endless cycle of resetting torment was going to come to an end. You looked at the monster child turned flower. Things didn’t used to be this way. “We used to have a lot of fun in the resets. Remember that time you pranked Undyne by casting human shadows on the walls in Waterfall? I’ve never seen her look so mad and frustrated!” You chuckled as you reminisced on the past timeline but Flowey didn’t say anything. “Oh! What about that other time where you only spoke like Temmie the whole time? I don’t know how you managed that. It gave me a headache just watching!”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Your feathers rustled against your back at Flowey’s statement. “What?”

“NONE OF IT MATTERED.” He screeched. His voice echoing down the long halls of the ruins. “None of THIS matters.” At that, Flowey gestured with his leaves at everything around him. After that energetic outburst the leaves droop and soon his head follows with his eyes scanning the ground. “Sometimes I wonder if the ‘me’ actually being alive was all a dream. A figment of my imagination because I’m so desperate to actually feel _something_ … instead of nothing.”

Wow… Asriel really had changed for the worse. To think that he may have imagined his previous life despite having clues that it actually happened everywhere… Was so sad. “Yes, it did. It all mattered.” You decided not to talk about the last thing that he had said. You didn’t want to enable that line of thought.

“NO, IT DIDN’T!” Flowey was in your face in an instant. “How can it matter when no one remembers except for you, me, and Chara? Just how?!”

“Just because everyone else doesn’t remember doesn’t mean that it didn’t matter at all. It happened. You experienced it. I experienced it. It only doesn’t matter if you didn’t care but with the way you are acting it’s obvious that you do.” You looked him square in the eyes as you said it. His intimidation tactic not fazing you in the least. It wasn’t the first time that he had attempted this.

“How can I care? When I don’t feel anything?!” The anger that the flower was displaying grew but your face remained calm. Passive.

“Well, you must be feeling something right now or else we wouldn’t be having this discussion.” You brought a finger to Flowey’s forehead and gently pushed his face back from yours a bit. “This timeline isn’t like any of the others and you know it. You can sense it just like I can see it. As I said before… You and Chara’s souls are now separated. Meaning he isn’t getting that power boost that you were naturally giving him by being fused together. When Frisk fell this time, I could barely sense Chara’s presence within the child at all. Chara’s twisted soul has lost its power and he is struggling to try and regain control.” 

You thought back on when Chara first possessed Frisk. The poor boy hadn’t stood a chance and all they could do was watch as someone else murdered everyone countless times in their own skin. Helpless to do anything about it. Because of this series of deaths and events, Frisk could actually see you. He knew you existed. You even managed to talk to him at one point when Chara had been feeling lenient. There was no way that you were going to let Chara take advantage of Frisk’s body again out of fear like he did the first time. So you had made sure that with each reset that Frisk remembered. Even if Asriel didn’t realize that you three weren’t the only ones.

With all the knowledge of the past resets, Frisk knew what to do. You could sense that he wanted to make up for all the pain and suffering that all of the monsters have had to endure. Combining that determination with the 6 souls that were already down here, everyone was going to be free. You were going to make sure that this was the last reset.

Flowey growled at you in disbelief. “You say that now but just watch. Chara is smart. He’ll find a way to take over Frisk again and then we’ll be back to square one.”

“Do you really not have any hope for this?”

The bitter laugh that came from the flower had you taking a couple small steps away from him. “What is hope? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a thing.”

Your heart seemed to crack at those words. If he truly had no hope and was in his monster body then he would have fell down immediately. Hope, magic, and a little bit of dust are all that make up a monster. Without hope then all is lost. Shit… was helping these kids a good idea? At this rate when this is all over, they will have endured so much that they may not be able to survive without their memories erased and fake ones put in. Then they wouldn’t remember you or any of the resets. Pain started to blossom in your chest at the thought of them forgetting you. Despite being irritable most times, the monster child turned flower had grown on you through all this time.

For some reason you couldn’t stand being next to Flowey at the moment. It hurt. The thoughts of some of things you may end up having to do made your stomach do back flips. But you couldn’t just leave the conversation as it was. “Well, if you don’t have any hope in this world then at least have some faith in me.” You had turned away so that your expression was unreadable to Flowey.

With that said, you left him to follow after Frisk as he went about the Ruins while you headed past him to the door in Toriel’s basement. It was large and intimidating. At least, that is what you think it would appear to be to a person who had never seen it before. Not even bothering to make your form physical, you walked straight through the door and through the passage beyond into the cold that was Snowdin Forest. The scent of the large pine trees and the sharp cold helping to clear your mind.

“Now people may be able to see _straight through_ me but that is something new.” The deep baritone voice had you looking in the direction of a stout skeleton monster in a blue hoodie. Seeing the skeleton made the pun in his words obvious and it brought a smile to your face. His plastered one didn’t appear to move at all. However, you were confused as hell. You never made it so others could see you. Flowey could see you at all times but that was because he had a direct link straight to you with the tattoo. How the hell could this skeleton see you right now? “I may not know a lot of monsters but I’m pretty sure the only ones who can move through walls are ghosts. You. Don’t appear to be a ghost.”

A cracking sound could be heard and a large pile of snow fell from an overloaded branch above your head. You didn’t move to shield yourself or get out of the way. You didn’t need too. The snow fell straight through your form. Piling up on top of the snow that was already on the ground. The skeleton’s eye sockets widened in surprise and the air between the two of you became tense. This was so strange. Normally only people and monsters who have had a near death experience and remembered it could see you. Your eyes narrowed as if to scan the monster before you with them widening in shock.

This monster only had 1 HP. He was so close to falling down it wasn’t even funny. Why was he like that? This was the only monster that you have come in contact with that had such low HP. However you weren’t given a lot of time to dwell on it as the white pinpricks in his eye sockets vanished. “Explain yourself. What are you?” He obviously didn’t trust you or like how you looked. He knew something was up with you. How do you respond to that? You debated not telling him anything but then again that might make things worse.

“Well…” You began while scratching your chin thoughtfully. His eye sockets watched your every movement. Your feathers rustled in the cold air as your wings readjusted themselves on your back. “I’m the Crow.” You decided it was best to be honest but the bitter laugh that came from the skeleton confirmed that he didn’t believe what you said.

“So you’re the grim reaper huh? Man, you are really _killing_ me over here with that.” The skeleton had looked away from you for a moment before turning back to you. Even though he had said a pun, it was obvious that he was being entirely serious. “Seriously. What are you?”

“I just told you.” Your voice was completely even and betrayed nothing. There was no point in denying it when it was the truth.

“You know you aren’t _reaping_ any rewards by saying that. It feels like I’ve done this day over a million times but it’s the first time that I’ve ever seen you. Now…” The skeleton closed his eyes sockets and when they opened his left one was lit up in a brilliant display of cyan magic. “I’ll ask one last time. What are you?”

His words may as well have fell on deaf ears. You were still reeling from the first thing he said. Millions of times… Same day… did this skeleton remember all of the resets? Had you somehow missed him every single time? No. That wasn’t possible. Maybe he was somehow immune to the memory erasing effects of your abilities? It wouldn’t be the first time a human or a monster was immune to some of your powers. But in the end, death always comes. Now it was your turn to eye the skeleton suspiciously.

What was he exactly? Not only did your memory erasing possibly not work on him but he shouldn’t be able to see you right now either. The two of you stared each other down while you both tried to figure the other out. It was the skeleton who finally broke the silence. “Well, since you don’t exactly feel like talking and if you feel like you are the grim reaper. I hate to say it but I really can’t let you pass.” With this, the space behind the skeleton seemed to morph and twist until several huge, large skeletal abominations materialized.

They floated elegantly around the skeleton. Their menacing jaws pointed in your direction. In a matter of seconds, their mouths fell open with a ferocious roar and several beams of pure hot magic launched towards you with lighting fast speed. Shit. If you let this fade through you then it would create a path of destruction in its wake. If the battle kept on, then Frisk could possibly be caught in the crossfire and force a reset.

You couldn’t let that happen.

Making your body physical, you absorbed the full assault of the blast. You never allowed the magic to breach past your position. As quickly as they came, the blasts of magic dissipated. Fear crossing the skeleton’s face for a fraction of a second. Despite taking the full attack, you were completely unscathed. “How the hell did you do that?”

“Sorry but I’ll have to tell you at a later date.” You give him a reassuring smile as you walked past the skeleton and deeper into the Forest. “There isn’t much time before the human walks through the door. Don’t you have a sentry station to be napping at Sans?” When you turned back to look at the skeleton, the look he was now giving you was no longer composed. The permanent smile on his skull now a shocked frown. He was trying to figure out how you knew his name let alone how you knew where he was supposed to be at this current point in time.

Turning back, you continued to walk on ahead. Leaving the perplexed skeleton behind.


	5. Chapter 4

“AAAAGGGGHHHHH!” Flowey screamed in rage as he watched Frisk play with Lesser Dog in the snow. Your hand was covering your mouth to hide the giggles that wanted to escape. You had already pissed Flowey off enough from earlier. You didn’t need to add more fuel to the fire. The dog monster’s neck was reaching high into the clouds. If you weren’t The Crow, you probably would have wondered how the pup was still alive with such a long neck. To be honest, you were still confused as to how that worked but you kind of wanted it to remain a mystery. This wasn’t the first time you had seen it or experienced it. Your eyes wandered over to Flowey’s scoffing form. He was ranting about something but you had long since tuned him out. Your mind thinking back to the very first reset.

“What is it? What do you want from me?!?” Asriel asked in confusion. Stretching his stem as far away as he could away from Lesser Dog’s head as he said it. Lesser Dog’s tongue was lolling out as it used it’s puppy eyes on the ex-monster child. Chara shook his head in dismay while letting out a groan as you chuckled while standing next to the human boy. The both of you not to far away from poor Asriel.

“Azzy… Have you never seen a dog before?” Chara asked while rolling his eyes at his cry baby monster brother. Knowing that ever since Asriel took possession of the flower he couldn’t hear or see Chara, you relayed what the child said.

The golden flower shook his head. “Come on, Chara! I’ve only read about them in human books. The royal guard didn’t come to the castle that often! Now what do I do???”

“I think it wants you to pet it, Asriel.” You spoke up. Lesser Dog’s ears perking up and it’s tail wagging at a much faster pace than before at the word. At the moment, you had it so that you had the physical body of a child. Just like when you first met the two boys. Meaning you were visible to everyone at this point in time. The only one not visible to everyone but you was Chara.

“Pet it? What does that mean?? Also I told you to call me Flowey!” The flower called out before avoiding another playful lick from the dog monster.

“I will never call you that… Seriously, what kind of name is Flowey?” You shook your head as you remembered the name that Asriel had given himself not long after leaving the King’s garden. His naming prowess definitely came from his father. “Remember what Chara used to do to your ears that annoyed you?”

“Oh my God! You watched that?!” Chara whirled on you with the anger of an embarrassed teenager. A bright blush was on the human ghost’s cheeks making you laugh.

“Watching is my job, kiddo. It was cute!” You flicked some stray hairs out of your face that the cold wind had blown into it. While wandering around you had stopped to watch the two children play when Chara had begun petting Asriel’s ears. They looked soft and even though you won’t admit it to them… You had wanted to pet them too. Shaking yourself out of the memory, you turn from Chara to Asriel and called out to him.“Take your one of your leaves and stroke it’s head!”

“Why?!”

You rolled your eyes along with Chara this time. “Just do it!”

With the nervousness of a person who had never been around a big dog before, Asriel lifted one of his leaves, that acted as arms sometimes, and gently caressed the white fur on top of Lesser Dog’s head. Immediately, the dog stretched its neck farther into Asriel’s leaf. Shocking the three of you. Asriel pulled his leaf back aghast with fear. “Is that normal?! Did I hurt it?”

“I don’t think so… his tail is wagging pretty strongly.” Chara was eyeing the dog with complete interest.

“I have to agree with your brother. He looks fine.” You were now scanning the dog monster for any damage or hint that it had been hurt. The dog was perfectly fine and your curiosity got the better of you. “Do it again.”

Asriel turned to face you instead of Lesser Dog with a shocked look on his white face. “What?!”

“If you won’t then I will.” You moved to step forward with your arm reaching out but Asriel stopped you by petting Lesser Dog again. Your suspicions were confirmed. It’s neck stretched even more. The dog’s neck was now a couple of inches longer than it was originally. “Maybe this is part of it’s magic? I don’t see any damage being done at all.” You moved next to Asriel with Chara following close behind.

“Wish I could pet it…” The human child looked dejectedly at the ground and this time you rolled your eyes at him instead of Asriel.

“You know, as well as I do, that you can if you absolutely want too. Your SOULS are still very much connected.” You stated while stroking Lesser Dog behind the ear, prompting for it’s neck to stretch even more and its tail to wag with greater speed.

Chara looked from you to Asriel and then to Lesser Dog. “Okay, I’ll try.” Closing his eyes, Chara disappeared and Asriel’s eyes went wide as one of his leaves started acting on it’s own. It had reached out and had joined your hand in the pet fest.

“What’s happening?! I’m not doing that!” Asriel looked at you with his flower face clearly distressed.

“Chara wanted to pet the dog too. As I said a moment ago to him, you both are still very much connected. You may be the dominant SOUL but Chara can influence things too. He’s still in there after all.”

Asriel’s distressed expression was quickly replaced with a happy one. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“That’s awesome!” Asriel exclaimed before turning back to Lesser Dog. It’s neck was significantly longer and was beginning to coil around the golden flower. Asriel’s eyes sparked as an idea crossed his mind. “Hey, Chara! Let’s see how long his neck will go!”

The joyful giggles of Asriel and Chara morphed into Frisk as the memory faded from your mind and you came back to reality. The human had really done a number on Lesser Dog. It’s head was no longer visible as it was soaring above the clouds. A small smile graced your lips. You had experienced a lot of firsts with those two as they learned all the things in The Underground for the first time. Leaving Flowey to continue to rant to himself about Frisk, you wandered on ahead until you hit the small town of Snowdin.

It was early morning but a lot of monsters were already going about town. All of the monsters you now knew on a deep personal level along with their names. But the name thing was something you always had the ability for. You wandered aimlessly around the town. Your form still invisible to those around you. Monster Kid ran through you towards the beautiful Christmas tree that was set up in the center of town. It’s base littered with a large array of presents. Seeing the monster run and fall flat on his face brought an endearing look to your eyes.

You remembered the time when Flowey, no, Asriel, had taught Monster Kid how to beat Undyne in a fight. Glancing to your right you saw a bunny girl walking another smaller bunny and shook your head at the silly sight. There was another time when Asriel had taken to babysitting the bunbuns. That had been an ordeal since Asriel, at the time, had the mindset of a small child as well. Throughout the timelines, you have seen so many good and horrible things.

“I remember that. Didn’t he lose one of the bunnies and ended up searching the whole entire town only to find out the kid was asleep under a table from playing hide and seek? He got the whole town on a man hunt for nothin.”

The baritone voice had you turning to look at the stout skeleton behind you in shock. Had you been talking out loud? Not that it normally would have mattered because Asriel should be the only one to see you right now. “Yes… That’s the one I was talking about.” A brief lapse of sympathy crosses your face. The poor skeleton shouldn't remember anything. A couple of monsters walking by were giving Sans an odd look but kept about their business. You should probably point that out. “You do realize that you are the only one who can see me right now… right?”

“I figured as much when I saw MK run through you like you were just air.” Sans wasn’t looking at you as he said it but followed you as you headed to the trees lining the edge of town. You leaned up against one and Sans did the same. “So for a grim reaper you don’t exactly look to _grave_ about anything.”

“Still don’t believe me, eh?” You were smiling while watching the crowd in front of you. “Shouldn’t you be helping your brother out with the human?”

Sans scratched his skull idly. “I’ve done this enough times to know when I’m supposed to make an appearance.”

You wince at his words and it doesn’t go unnoticed. Yet, the stout skeleton doesn’t comment on it. Still his words remain in your mind. The poor guy remembered everything. Meaning he remembered the good times and the bad, just like you. Only he had to experience them physically. After the first genocide route with Flowey, you had refused to watch any of the others. Even when Frisk was first possessed, you refused to watch because you knew it was futile to stop them. All you did was wait in Asgore’s throne room for possessed Frisk to appear before forcing a reset.

Chara never did kill every single monster in the underground. This you did know because a bunch would evacuate before he had a chance to reach them. Was Sans one of the ones that evacuated? Or was he one of the ones that was killed every single time? If so, did he remember every single time he died? You didn’t know and you didn’t exactly want to ask. Your heart felt extremely heavy as the silence grew between the two of you.

Eventually, you let out a very heavy, weary sigh. “I’m so sorry, Sans. I’m so sorry that you have had to suffer like this.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sans was looking at you with a guarded expression but it was obvious he was confused by your apology.

“Good thing is though… This… Everything.” You raise your arm and do a grand sweep in the direction of Snowdin hoping that he realized that you meant all of The Underground. “Will be over soon.”

Sans narrowed his eye sockets at you suspiciously. “What will end soon?”

“The Underground will go empty… You’ll see soon enough.” At that you give him an apologetic smile and allow your body to fade away as you warp to where Frisk was trying to solve another one of Papyrus’s puzzles.


	6. Chapter 5

“It’s just funny…. That’s my wish too.”

The voice, the echo flower recorded, faded out in the long cave like cavern as Frisk moved to activate the next one. You and Flowey trailed behind the human child at a decent distance. Frisk was having fun actually having the time to hit all of the echo flowers instead of walking past them like in the past timelines. Flowey still wasn’t sure that this run was genuine but you could sense Chara’s frustration from here.

Flowey’s human brother was currently floating right above Frisk as he continued on his way. Screeching and screaming at his failed attempts to possess the living human child. Frisk’s blatant denial in killing anyone frustrating the twisted soul to no end. The two of you continued on through Waterfall with a rather smug look on your face at Chara’s anger. It took you a minute to realize that Flowey had gone uncharacteristically quiet.

You glanced down at him to see that he was glancing back down the path that you had just followed Frisk down. A trail of now silent echo flowers in your wake. The normally creepy smile he had or face of anger was gone. His facial expression was softer. Contemplative. An idea blossomed forth in your mind and you tapped one of his yellow petals to get his attention. “Hey. Frisk is going to be wandering around here for a long time. Why don’t we go to that spot we used to go too?”

“The spot?” Flowey seemed to perk up at that as you took the lead and led the way through the dark cavern. You walked through a waterfall with a hidden room that you could only access at a certain angle. With your small childlike form, you easily passed through the cracks. Anyone who was an adult would have had issues. More than likely the person would get stuck. Inside, the hidden room opened up to a small pool ringed with a couple of echo flowers.

Excited, you bounced on your feet next to Flowey who appeared to still be in his contemplative state. “You think anyone else has found this place?” Flowey just shrugs at you as you make your way over to one of the echo flowers. You gently tapped it and your voice filtered around the room.

“I promise, Asriel. I promise.” It echoed for a moment before fading out. The excitement you felt grew at the fact that no one had found your little hiding spot.

“Doesn’t appear to have been touched since the last time you save a bit from a reset.” Flowey stated while you settled yourself in a comfortable spot on the floor. He disappears in the ground only to reappear right next you, resting his head on your knee. “To be honest, it’s kind of nice.”

“Isn’t it? I don’t think even Chara knows of this place…” You let that statement trail off and decide to change topics. Though it was true. When you two had found this place, Chara’s descent into madness had already begun. Not that you had told him that at the time. It was something that you had wanted to shield Asriel from but instead he had had to face it full on countless times. You unconsciously shudder. “Soo… what were you thinkin about when we were followin Frisk, back there?”

Flowey seemed to debate even talking to you before letting out a heavy sigh. “I remember when Chara and I would come to wish on the echo flowers. We even came up with a secret coded language in case we got lost in waterfall so that we could find one another.”

Shit. Looks like talking about Chara was unavoidable.

“I know! It was adorable. Though you ended up using it more than he did.” Reaching a hand up, you gently stroked the petals on the top of his small head.

“Crow… will Chara be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s say that this all works and everything is fixed.” Flowey eyed your hand as it continued its gentle strokes on his head. “Will Chara be able to go back to normal? Or is he to far gone?”

“I….” Your voice faltered at the question. It was something that you were wondering as well. Would seeing your plan finally succeed spur Chara’s humanity back to him? Or would he continue to call himself the demon that comes when his name is called? There was no way to tell with the human ghost’s mindset. “I don’t know…” You let the words linger between the two of you for a bit. Unsure of where to lead the conversation. So you continued to pet the petals atop Flowey’s head for lack of something better to say or do.

It was odd. This wasn’t the first time that you had stepped in as Crow to help a saddened tormented soul but this is definitely one of the ones you have put the most effort and time in to. Your heart went out to these two lost boys. They had grown on you in a way that you had never experienced before. They were the closest things to friends that you have ever had. When a Crow is born. It’s sudden and they know their purpose in life already. There are other Crows. There are thousands upon thousands of Crows. But none have given you the type of companionship and happiness that Asriel and Chara have in the past thousand or so years of resets. For good or bad.

Any souls that you had helped previously… you never really bonded with. You did your job and they either went about their fixed life, glad to have a second chance or you had taken them to the land of the dead like you were supposed too. You were glad to have helped them. It was your job but this time was different. Your eyes followed the curve of Flowey’s petals. There was a huge chance that Asriel wouldn’t be able to attain his old self if he remembered all of the resets. The fear and pain that popped up from thinking this before returned. Would you be able to do what needed to be done if the time came?

You have never become attached to anyone before. Could you do what was right for Asriel and let him go if you had to? Tears started to prick in your eyes and you quickly looked away so that your flower companion wouldn’t notice. Your heart aching in the confines of your chest. What was this? What was this feeling that you were currently experiencing? Crows were always supposed to be passive. Neutral. But you weren’t. You had allowed yourself to get very VERY deeply involved in the lives of these two boys. Asriel’s especially. You didn’t want this sweet peaceful moment to end. Why? Just why?! You shouldn’t be feeling this way! Whatever this feeling was it made it so that you didn’t want all of this to end.

Were you.. were you scared?

Was this the feeling you were experiencing right now? Were you scared of having to erase Asriel and Chara’s memories? Okay, maybe not Chara so much. He probably was going to need it regardless. But Asriel… your heart throbbed again and it took all of your will power to not stop petting the flower to clutch your hurting chest. This wasn’t just fear. There was something else spurring on your actions and feelings right now.

“Hey… I’ve never seen you have that expression before… Are you okay?” Flowey raised one side of his brow questioningly at you.

“What do you mean?” Somehow you had managed to keep your voice level despite all the emotions that were swirling within you. Had some of your inner emotions been displaying on your face? Shit, that wasn’t good. If that was true and another Crow had seen it you would have gotten an earful from them. A Crow was always supposed to remain passive. Always.

Flowey lifted his head away from your hand to stretch his stem before resting his petaled head back on your knee. “Most of the time your face doesn’t really have an expression. Then there are the times when you are angry, sad, happy… things like that. But this is the first time I have ever seen it look as though you were in pain.”

Pain? Why pain? Where you in pain? Your heart was still aching from your previous thoughts. Yes. You were in pain. But why? “And why do you care?” Your eyes grew wide as the realization of what your feelings were hit home. Care… You cared about Chara. You cared about Asriel. A lot.

The flower just shrugged his stem nonchalantly at you. “I’m not capable of caring. You know that. It’s just that I’ve wrapped my vines around you countless times. They should have killed you. You should have felt pain but you never displayed anything like that. I just thought you couldn’t feel it. Guess I was wrong.” He then leaned up close to your face with a slightly sadistic smile gracing his flower features. His interest clearly peeked. “Now what exactly is The Crow of The Underground thinking for her to make an expression like that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” You flicked the spot on his face where a nose should be and he backed up clutching the spot with his leaves. Like you were going to tell him that you cared for him. So much so that you were deeply hurt if he had to forget you or if you had to take him to the land of the dead. You didn’t want the annoying flower to leave your side…You were fighting to keep your expression annoyed but a light dusting of pink appeared on your cheeks. 

Flowey’s grumbling turned into a high pitched laughter. “What’s this? Is The Crow embarrassed? You were right this timeline really is different!” Not in the mood to put up with his heckling, you stood up and started to make your way out of the hiding spot with Flowey following close behind you. “She is! She is embarrassed! Tell me!”

“Hell no.” You were not going to tell him anything of the sort. If you did, he was going to throw it in your face with the way he was now. He would just make you his new play thing until he realized that everything you have been saying is true.

“Aw, come on! This is the most interesting thing to happen in a long time!” He was pouting his little adorable face at you but you weren’t going to give in.

“Nope.”

“Do it!”

“Nuh uh.”

“Pleeeeeeaassseee?”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Why not?!” The flower’s curiosity fading into anger at your refusal to let him in.

You just rustled your wings at him as you both made your way back over to Frisk, who was now playing cards with the bugs in the nice cream punch card box. “Because if this really is going to be reset then why spoil the most interesting thing to happen in a long while, hm? You’ll just get bored again.”

“I thought this was the last reset?” Flowey bristled at your words but held back his anger in an attempt at being nice.

“It is. But it’s not like you’ve ever believed a word I’ve said.” You leaned against the wall and continued to watch the small human child play. “I have to constantly remind you to trust me. Why would you believe everything now?”

Flowey took in your slightly solemn expression. Instead of taking advantage of your moment of vulnerability and laying into you, he backed off and eyed the floor. “That’s not true.”

“What isn’t true?”

“Me not believing a word you say. It isn’t true.”

This had you looking away from Frisk and down to the flower at your side. “Really now?”

“I-I believe you… It’s just I can’t help feeling that something really bad is going to happen.” He kept eyeing the floor as he said it and your eyes softened from the harshness that they previously held.

“Well, believe me when I say that I won’t let that happen.” You stepped out of the doorway with Flowey following as Frisk finished up his game and continued on his way. “Even if I have to do something I really don’t want too…”

“What?” Flowey was now looking at you curiously having not heard that last part that you had whispered to yourself.

“Nothing. I’m going on ahead.” You let your body fade away again into nothing. Leaving Asriel behind to wonder what was up with you.


	7. Chapter 6

The sound of bubbling lava began to drown out the rushing waters of Waterfall as you made your way into Hotland. You wiped some nonexistent sweat from your brow and let out a weary sigh. The long hallway with the huge neon sign being left behind. Even though you didn’t have a corporeal body at the moment, you could still feel the intense heat. Hotland was definitely the perfect name for this area. Even if it was a simple name.

“Hey there… Looks like you’re getting your _Exorcise_ for the day.”

Your feet came to halt right in front of a familiar looking sentry station with a certain small skeleton lounging within it. Snow decorated the top of it. Like it always did. Just another mystery that The Underground held. You give Sans a sly grin as you made your way over to him. “Come on, now…I’m not a demon.” Your feathers rustle about as you shrug your shoulders at the skeleton monster. “Though I must say that my puns can be pretty _deadly_.”

Sans’s eye sockets grew wide in surprise that you returned a pun for his. Then again, this was the first one that you had said to him. At least in this time line. You had cracked jokes with him before in the guise of another monster. But that was a time line that was way before all of the bad ones… “Well, I would say that was good but to be honest that was a little _grim_. Guess you _reap_ what you sow.”

“Gah! No! You’re _killing_ me over here!” You laughed out as you leaned against the counter top of the sentry station. Perfectly at ease.

“I thought killing was your job?” The stout skeleton replied while moving to rest his skull in his hands on the counter top.

“Normally,” You began before flashing him a wicked grin. “But you are _knockin ‘em dead_ today!”

Sans chuckles before letting the jovial air between the two of you fade into a more serious one. “You know for a grim reaper. I haven’t exactly seen you reaping anything.”

You cocked a curious eyebrow at him. “Keepin an eye socket on me, eh?”

“When someone claims they are the grim reaper. Then say the entire Underground will go empty. They kind of become a top priority, y’know?” Sans said it with both of his eye sockets closed. Completely relaxed against the counter top but his words hit home. That sounded really bad. Even though you were telling the truth but in a more positive light. You could see why the skeleton was so wary of your presence. He didn’t take it that all the monsters would go free. He took it as though you were going to kill everyone. Which technically… that’s what you did but all you did was take their souls after the fact. You didn’t actually do any of the killing. “I’ve been watchin ya when I could find you. Every single time, I’ve tried to see your HP and the like. Wanna know the weird thing? I can’t.”

Well, of course he couldn’t. You couldn’t die. At least, not in the same way that humans and monsters could. Crow deaths were always…unique. Some weren’t even permanent. It was more like…a punishment for going against the natural order. Crows couldn’t just let people live. Then the world would be overpopulated. There had to be a punishment for certain situations. Whenever a Crow went to far or did something they shouldn’t have…there were repercussions. But. For the ones that came back, there was always a cost. Sometimes it was an amount of time to pass, others was a more unique requirement. Yet, it was still possible.

Still it was weird that Sans could see things like that anyway. Maybe that was why he could see you and your reset powers hadn’t worked? He already had certain abilities that he gained from being born? It was interesting to say the least but at the same time it was heart wrenching. He remembered everything. But unlike Asriel, Chara, Frisk, and yourself, he didn’t know why the resets kept happening. No wonder his HP was so low. The poor guy probably had lost his will to live. What was the point in trying if it was all going to be reset anyway, right?

A boney hand snapped its fingers in front of your face. Pulling you out of your inner monologue. “Hey, hey! I know we are more than _six feet under_ but come back to earth!” You snickered at his pun while he settled back onto his side of the counter top. “Listen, when I scope you. All I get is a giant fuzzy box. As if your numbers are so astronomically high that I can’t comprehend it or this kind of stuff doesn’t affect you in any way. So let me get to the point. Why can’t anyone else see you? What are you?”

The stout skeleton sounded hopeless. Desperate. You looked down at the hot rock that was the floor with a frown. “I already told you. I’m The Crow of The Underground.” A tired heavy sigh escaped your lips at the last part. “Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?”

“Bullsh-”

“Shut up and listen here Sans. I will be the first to admit that this is entirely my fault alright?” You cut him off with a brisk tone and he seemed to be shocked by your sudden bout of anger. “The timelines, the resets, everything. I’m sorry that for some reason my power didn’t work on you so you remember everything. So much so that it has hurt your will to live. I never would have burdened someone with this. If I had known… I wouldn’t have treated you like everyone else. Like all the people who don’t remember the resets. The timelines. The good ones… and the bad ones…” Your voice cracked on the last part.

“Wha-”

“You are right though. If I’m the grim reaper, then why is everyone still here? After all if everyone is dead then how can everything be reset, right? Well, just so you know I have been trying to fix things. I’ve been trying to fix everything! That’s all I wanted to do since the very beginning!” You were no longer lounging against the sentry station counter top but pacing the small strip of land in front of it. “It was all supposed to go smoothly. No one was supposed to die… all those genocide routes…” Your arms wrapped around your childlike frame as you shuddered. “They didn’t have to happen but it wasn’t something that I had control over. What was the point of stopping it, if it was going to happen anyway, right? Sans?” You paused to look directly at the skeleton who was now watching you with wide eye sockets.

He watched as you walked back over to him and sit in front of the small sentry station. “I thought grim reaper’s were supposed to be passive. Job driven, y’know? Take the soul move on to the next. That sort of thing?” Sans was leaning over the counter top to look at your dejected form as he said it.

“Don’t remind me… Look.” You took a deep breath to calm your nerves that seemed to explode out of you like the heat in this room. “I’m not here to kill everyone. I’m not here to take anyone’s souls. Right now, anyway. This is going to be the last reset. For better or for worse.” With that last part, you stood back up and brushed yourself off.

“Uh… you don’t seem too happy about that. I would say you were lookin a little _grave_.”

The pun had a small smile forming on your lips but it soon turned bitter. There were so many possibilities on how this all could turn out…but the two you were looking at weren’t exactly good. Both were stacked highly against you. “I’m just not looking forward to something that I may have to do here soon. You know what I mean?”

“All too well.”

Turning to the skeleton monster, you saw the look of camaraderie that he was giving you. The history of all the past timelines, all the resets…. all the things he had been forced to do and then remembering even though no one else did. It looked like… that in this moment… that the both of you felt your sins crawling up your backs. You stood there for a good moment before your head perked up at a long distant sound. “Looks like our conversation has to end here. You are about to have a couple of guests.”

Sans turned his head to look down the tunnel into Waterfall. The loud sound of clanging metal was getting slowly louder. “So the kid survived Undyne too, eh?”

“Of course. He had a lot of time watching from the sidelines. It’s only natural that he got good at dodging everything.”

“Wait… what is that supposed to mean? ‘Watching from the sidelines?’” Sans was eyeing you again.

“It means exactly what I just said.”

“No… He can’t…” The stout skeleton’s voice faltered as his look turned into a pleading one. “Does the kid… does he remember? Everything..?”

“Yes…” You were watching him with solemn eyes. Why would that matter to him? If anything, he should be glad that the child is trying to make amends for killing everyone. Even though Frisk wasn’t the one to actually do it. Other than the first time, Chara killed everyone else brutally. Over and over. Only resetting when you had forced it. Not Frisk. The only time the world stuttered was when you were waiting for Chara to appear in Asgore’s throne room. Countless times the world would have to reload to a previous point. Over and over and over. Your eyes grew wide and with a swipe from your hand time stopped in its tracks. The bright reds, oranges, yellows, and browns of Hotland faded out into a gray monotone. Sans blinked and straightened up. His eye sockets scanning the room that was now void of color. “It was you…”

“How… What did..? How did you do that?” The skeleton monster was no longer relaxed. He was looking at you with fear at the sudden display of power.

“You were the reason that Chara had to reload so many times before the throne room.” However you ignored his words. You were now looking at Sans with a new found respect. “You were the only one who could stand up to him.”

“Chara? Who the hell is, Chara…?” Sans moved back a bit when you had taken a couple of steps forward. 

But you stopped. “Then that means… oh shit…” Tears were streaming down your face now. Ever since you had found out that Sans could remember everything, you were hoping that he was one of the monsters that always was evacuated. If he was the one who made Chara reload in the hall before the throne room every time… Then he had to have died every single time. “Sans… I-I’m sorry… I-I’m so sorry…”

Sans fear seemed to dissipate when he saw you, The Crow of The Underground, crying. “Sorry for what?”

“No wonder your HP is so low… Not only do you remember the resets... You remember how many times you’ve died!” You let out a saddened bitter laugh. “It’s a small wonder you haven’t fell down every single time due to having no hope once the genocide time lines picked up again!” Without thinking, you ran forward and pulled the skeleton monster into a strong hug. “I’ll make it up to you… I promise this is going to end. You will never have to suffer again.”

“Heh. Don’t make a promise you can’t keep…”

“I never do.” At that, you released Sans and the color melted back into the surrounding area as time began to flow once again. You wiped the tears from your eyes. “Better get crackin on sleepin. They’ll be here any second.”

“COME BACK HERE PUNK!” Undyne’s loud raspy voice roared out from the tunnel leading into Hotland. The sound of her armor so loud her and Frisk were about on top of the two of you. Sans let out a yawn and slumped onto the counter top on cue. You left him there to deal with Undyne with a solemn smile. Soon. This was going to be over soon.


	8. Chapter 7

Shit.

It was true.

Sans was the one who forced all of the reloads in this beautiful hallway. You were currently standing behind one of the immense stone pillars that lined the room. The skeleton was currently standing dead center on the opposite end. Putting himself between the human and Asgore, who was in the throne room. Was this how it always went down? Sans would stand there waiting for Chara just to attempt to stop him? Even after all of the monsters he had killed? Even knowing that if he did… that he would die?

The gorgeous stained glass windows cast the hall in varying arrays of oranges and yellow. It truly was a beautiful sight to behold. Judging from Sans’s stance, he hadn’t picked up on your presence. Which was good. You didn’t want to distract him from whatever he was supposed to do in here. Though it shouldn’t be what he normally did on the genocide time lines. Hopefully. 

Flowey had disappeared long ago. You had watched Frisk go through the rest of Hotland and the Core by yourself. Which was probably a good thing. You weren’t sure if you could keep your conflicted emotions in check around him at the moment. Stretching a little bit against the white pillar turned orange from the glass, you settled into a more comfortable position. The human child sure was taking his time to get here. You had been sure that he would have walked through the archway at least an hour ago. Fortunately, the two of you didn’t have to wait too much longer. The familiar pitter patter of Frisk’s small feet could be heard in the hallway before this one and a smile returned to your face. Soon Frisk’s mop of brown hair emerged into the pretty hallway.

Your smile disappeared. Something was wrong. Your eyes scanned the small human boy in an attempt to find what it was but you couldn’t see it. Why couldn’t you see what was wrong? Was it so minuscule that you couldn’t find the source? Frisk wasn’t smiling like he had been the entire time he had gone through The Underground. His head was constantly lowered so that you couldn’t see his eyes. Maybe all this saving and resetting business had gotten to the kid? It wouldn’t be surprising. However your guard was up.

You let Frisk continue on his way up through the center of the hallway towards Sans. Maybe Asriel’s negativity was just getting to you. It was possible that after all the good fortune that you would feel some doubt towards the end. You were feeling a lot of conflicted feelings about the end of all this. However, now wasn’t the time to dwell on them. Frisk was now standing a few feet away from Sans who appeared to be more on guard than when Frisk had walked into the room. Did he sense something amiss too? A bell chimed out from a distant chapel in the vast monster city that lay in the outlying reaches of the castle. Its loud rings echoing throughout the deathly silent hall.

“So you finally made it.” Sans’s voice followed the last chime as it faded out. “The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together… You will determine the future of this world. That’s then.” His normal joking baritone voice was completely serious and it was sending shivers up your spine. You had never heard him speak like this in any of the timelines before this. His baritone voice picked back up and you were pulled from your thoughts to listen to his words. Completely enraptured. “Now. You will be judged.”

Judged? Sans. The most laid back and most generally lazy monster in all of The Underground was a judge? Did Asgore hire him or did he self-appoint this role after a few genocide resets had happened? You leaned forward from your pillar. Not too far out for him to see you. Frisk was completely quiet. You weren’t sure if it was from respect, fear, or something else.

“You will be judged for every action. You will be judged for every EXP that you have earned.” Sans was saying this all in what appeared to be a completely relaxed state. But you knew better. He was prepared for anything. “What’s EXP? It’s an acronym. It stands for execution points.” With the way he said it, your blood went cold. It was almost as if he was judging you and not the tiny human who was standing in front of him. He continued on despite the chills you felt. “A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases. When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases. LOVE, too, is an acronym.”

Your body shuddered. You remembered the first time you heard these acronyms in The Underground. It was just after you were assigned to it when all monsters had been banished. Whoever came up with these had to have had a sick mind. Turning something that is generally a good thing into something bad. Normally a person had to use special equipment to read someone’s EXP, LOVE, or HP. Anyone outside of a Crow. You still found it troubling how Sans appeared to have that ability to see those things without the aid of a machine.

“It stands for Level of Violence. A way of measuring someone’s capacity to hurt.” Sans didn’t even flinch. It was almost like he was reading from a script. How many times has he said this speech? Did he come up with it himself or did he memorize it? “The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others…” 

A tense silence fell on the room after those words. You stood there holding your breath. Waiting to hear the verdict that you knew all too well that was going to happen. Sans opened his eyes. “But you. You never gained any LOVE. ‘Course that doesn’t mean you are completely innocent or naive…”

“Of course not, Sans. Since when have I EVER been innocent?” 

No. It couldn’t be. That sickly sweet voice. It didn’t belong to Frisk. It belonged to Chara!

“SANS, LOOK OUT!” You shrieked from your spot from behind the pillar as Frisk brandishes a knife and lunges at the stout skeleton with full intent to kill. With the practice of countless resets under his belt, Sans effortlessly dodges out of the way while raising a hand at the same time to send a wall of bones flying at the human boy.

“I knew it… It was all too good to be true.” Sans’s voice was barely above a whisper but it sounded like he had yelled those words at you. “Shouldn’t have even bothered in getting my hopes up. This was just another way to fuck with me, huh kid?” Frisk got hit with a few stray bones but was on his feet and going after Sans like a hunter after his prey.

You stood hidden by your pillar. Frozen to the spot. No. This couldn’t be happening. Asriel had been right. Somehow Chara had taken possession of Frisk again at the very last minute. Was it when he was taking too long in the hallway before this one? You mentally berated yourself. Why had you let your guard down so much?! If you had been watching diligently, you could have stopped this! It was then a familiar loud roar filled the hallway and a blast of white hot magic lit up the room. While you were beating yourself up, the fight between the possessed human and the skeleton had continued on. Frisk’s body was struck with the blast head on. His bright red SOUL shattering into pieces.

Fantastic! This is what you needed. Sans had forced Chara to reload. You felt the familiar feeling of time hitching and reversing itself to a past saved point. Your body morphed from that of a child and into an adult. Once the hiccup in time was over, you were ready. So was Sans. You weren’t about to let Chara ruin everything. Not when everything was so close to being done once and for all.

Chara doesn’t even bother to let Sans go through that entire monologue again. He charges toward the skeleton at full speed. Knife at the ready. Sans was ready too. Several of the huge skeletal abominations that he had used before had already been summoned and were floating behind him. Ready to blast the child into dust. Making your form physical, you dash out between the two of them and lunged at the possessed human child. Your arm outstretched.

Fear crosses the red tinted eyes as your hand reached deep within the small human body and forcefully pulled the invader out. Chara thrashed in your arm as you held the human aloft by his throat. Frisk’s body lying on the floor directly below. With the power you currently had exerted, Chara wasn’t a ghost. He had a body. He was visible but not without consequence. You could feel the energy leave your body. Yet, you held firm. Frisk took a few moments to regain his body before noticing you holding Chara and whimpering in fear. Backing as far away from the demented child as he could.

“What the fuck?” Sans’s voice piped up from behind you but you ignored him for the moment. You had a naughty little evil human to deal with.

The pissed off boy you held dug at your arm with the knife in futile attempts to get free. Snarling menacingly the entire time. Your blood trailed down your arm to pool into your clothes as some of it dripped onto the floor from the various new holes. “You fucking bitch! Let me go! I’ll fucking kill you! You hear me? I’ll kill you!”

“Kinda hard to kill a Grim Reaper. Give it up, Chara. It’s over.” While still holding Chara aloft as he dug into your arm, you turned to Sans and gave him a reassuring smile. “How about we try this again?” With your free hand, you snap your fingers and everything fades out as you force a reload. It was just Chara and yourself as you waited for time to pick up from the point that you had set.

“What the actual fuck? Why do you keep stopping me?!” Chara screeched at you venomously.

“Because what you are doing is bad. If you hadn’t of taken possession of Frisk… AGAIN. We could actually be done already.” You hissed taking the knife from him and throwing it into the vast darkness that surrounded you both. Forever lost in the void.

“Done? DONE?! We’ll never be done!” Frustrated tears started to crest from the human boy’s eyes as he continued to struggle under your hold. “This is just an endless cycle! We’ll keep resetting over and over forever!”

“Chara… what happened to you?” Your voice softened as you said it taking the boy by surprise. “Why all the hatred? Murder? Bloodshed?” You held back a bitter laugh. Despite every bad thing this child had done you still cared about him. Ironic. You couldn’t completely hate the kid.

He stopped fighting as he thought. “Why not hatred, murder, and bloodshed? All my life it’s been hurt and betrayal. No one was there for me. So why should I be there for them? I tried doing the right thing and it got me killed. They all deserve to feel what I felt!” Chara’s voice got more strangled and heavy as tears streamed down his face.

You looked at him. Finally seeing him for what he was. This child wasn’t a demon. Not like he kept portraying himself to be. This child just wanted to feel safe. Secure. He just got dealt a bad hand and was scared to die. You set him down gently and turned yourself back into your childlike state. Before he could say anything else, you pulled him into a tight hug. Refusing to let the hurting child go. “It’s okay, Chara. I’m here for you. So is Asriel. We always have been. You just have to let us in.” You held him for what felt like ages but you knew it was actually just a few moments. The world started to fall back into place and you pulled out of the embrace but remained holding onto one of Chara’s hands. “Everything is about to end. Let’s watch this together. Okay?”


	9. Chapter 8

“I claim bullshit.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at the frankness in Chara’s voice. “Rude. A child like you should never say those words.” You had to take a moment to catch your breath though.

“For now, this child does. Seriously!” The small boy points in the direction of the fight between Frisk and Asriel in his god form after absorbing 6 human souls. Asriel Dreemur, God of Hyper Death. Yep, despite being trapped in a flower there is still a kid in there. “Every single time you stopped me. Every. Single. TIME. Yet when Asriel gets a hold of the souls you just stand by and let it all happen!” Chara moved so that he was right up in your face. “Bull. Shit.” the child had poked your shoulder hard at each word making you chuckle again. After having a brief discussion with you while Frisk talked with Asgore and the others, Chara seemed to have regained himself. He wasn’t completely back to normal. Yet, he wasn’t acting like a murderous psychopath. 

But he did have a point. Though you kind of knew that this was going to happen. There was absolutely no doubt in your mind that Asriel had witnessed Chara taking over Frisk at the last second before you intervened. So he probably decided to trust his instincts and took the 6 human souls along with all the monster souls in The Underground. Making it as though he had the equivalent of 7 human souls within him. They gave him the body that he had so very long ago just older… Even though he was thinking that this was what HE wanted, you knew that this had to happen. This fight was the final one. This fight would decide the fate of the last reset but it did give you an idea.

When Asriel had absorbed all of the souls, Chara, Frisk, and you were the only ones who weren’t affected. Well…. Chara, Frisk, you, and that shy ghost for some reason. Though you weren’t sure how the ghost had managed to escape it. So you had made a special barrier to protect the poor soul from getting lost in the world that was currently ending. You watched as Frisk nimbly dodged out of the way as shooting stars fell from the sky towards the human boy.

He was doing surprisingly well. Especially since this is the first time that this has ever happened. It had come as a surprise to the child that Flowey was actually Asriel. He had been unsure of what to do. So Frisk had taken some damage but thinking back on all of the friends he had made had given him their dreams. Dreams that he had used to replenish his HoPe. Frisk slipped up and managed to get nailed by one of Asriel’s Chaos Sabers. Chara floated off to your side. Yelling at you to intervene but you didn’t budge.

You didn’t need too.

Frisk stood back up and, immediately, jumped into the fray. Not once trying to hurt Asriel. The only thing the child used was mercy. Colors fill what was the dark void of the world around you. The battle of wills extending for a long period of time. Every time Asriel attacked, Frisk evaded. Only to spare or heal like he had been doing since the beginning. As the fight continued on, Asriel’s patience was starting to wear thin while his will started to falter. You could see it on his face that he didn’t understand why Frisk kept sparing him. Why after all the times that he had hurt him… killed him… that he kept showing the monster mercy.

“I don’t want to destroy the world anymore…”

“After, I defeat you and gain control of the timeline… I just want to reset everything.”

You shuddered at Asriel’s words. Why would he want this to continue? Just a few moments ago he had desperately wanted all of this to end. So why? Why a reset? Did he really think Chara was still in control? Frisk dodged more stars as he continued to spare Asriel. The God of Hyper Death speaking only when he was about to attack again.

“I’ll reset your progress to zero, and you’ll come back… again and again… because you want a ‘happy ending’.” Asriel’s tone was entirely mocking and it was making you cringe. His words cutting through you like a knife. Of course, Frisk wanted a happy ending. You all did. This was why you had closed off The Underground in the first place and how all of this began. You had wanted to give Chara… Asriel… and all of the monsters the happy ending that they deserved.

“Because you love your friends.”

“Because you never give up.”

Asriel gave the human boy an evil smirk “Isn’t that delicious? Your ‘determination’ that has allowed you to get this far. It’s going to be your downfall.” Chara looked at you but remained silent at your side. His brother’s words and actions just as odd to you as it was to him.

“Have I messed up that badly…?” Your voice spoke up but it was small. At this point, you were entirely second guessing yourself. Tears threatening to crest if you weren’t careful. If this is what Asriel had wanted then why had he acted as though he wanted all of this to end earlier? What had changed?

“Now... Enough messing around. It’s time to purge this timeline once and for all.” As Asriel said it, the colorful area morphed into a black void with the monster’s body morphing into a new more threatening form. All the while, white objects thrust themselves at Frisk knocking him down to a small fraction of health.

The human child watched in mild terror as the monster morphed. He tried to move. He tried to get away but he couldn’t. Asriel raised his arms to attack and soul-like projectiles swarmed the boy. Frisk let out a cry of alarm. You reached out to aid him. Knowing what would happen if he failed but you weren’t fast enough. One of the projectiles hit Frisk dead center. His eyes going wide in shock and in pain.

No.

No!

No no no no!

You couldn’t go back through all that had happened. You just couldn’t. You were so close! You watched as Frisk’s soul cracked right down the middle and you grimaced at the sight. Instead, you opted to close your eyes and wait for the next reload or reset. Whichever Frisk deemed necessary. But… it never came.

“How did he do that?”

At Chara’s words, your eyes snapped open. You watched as Frisk’s soul trembled and shook until it merged back together. Whole once again. Your eyes grew wide.

It had refused.

Frisk’s soul had refused to die.

This was something that you had never seen before and it kind of frightened you. No one should ever be able to cheat death with just sheer determination but Frisk had done just that. Not only that, but his health was completely restored. First, Sans was immune to your abilities and now Frisk? Just how many surprises were you going to get today?

Asriel laughs evilly at Frisk. “I can feel it. Every single time you die, your grip on this world falters. Every time you die, your friends remember you less and less. You will die here! In a world, where no one remembers you!” He raises his arms to attack Frisk again but you had zoned out entirely. The energy still leaving your body from earlier.

In a world, where no one remembers you…

No one remembers you…

“Please don’t make that face.”

You look over to Chara whose expression that normally was angry or had an evil smile now showed one that was mixed with regret and concern. Not realizing the pained expression that had overtaken your features at those 4 words. “This… isn’t your fault. It’s mine.”

“What do you mean?” You wiped your eyes to get rid of any tears and tried to make your expression neutral. You really weren’t good at your job for getting this emotional. “Are you talking about how your plan failed?”

“No… well… kind of yes.” Chara paused as he tried to find the right words. “I wanted to help everyone. I wanted to help mom and dad. Also Asriel… did you know that he has never seen sunlight or the stars? He was born down here a few years into their banishment but I was talking about what Asriel is doing right now.” He gestured to the fight that was still going on as you had your own little discussion. “We both want this to end. We truly do. But when I left him for Frisk… I essentially betrayed him. I abandoned him. I thought he deserved it because he abandoned me but that wasn’t true. He was always there. I was just scared. Just like he is now.”

“Scared?”

“Yes… he is afraid that when this ends… He will be all alone.” Chara looked at you with sad eyes. “I’m dead. He, technically, isn’t. When this is over, you’ll have to take me to the land of the dead and he’ll be left behind. That’s why he is so desperate to win…”

So…Chara hadn’t realized what you had done yet. The exertion from earlier taking more out of you than you thought. It was taking all you could to not look exhausted in front of Chara. What is the deal with this? You both let the conversation die there and turn back to the fight at hand. Frisk was no longer trying to escape or struggle. Instead, the boy was reaching out and calling on his friends’ names.

“TORIEL! ASGORE!”

At his call two souls emerged from within Asriel. Frisk ran forward and hugged the soul. He refuses to fight them. Told the souls his preference between butterscotch and cinnamon. Frisk then hugs the other soul and they both form into the souls of the two large goat monsters. Asriel and Chara’s parents. They offer Frisk words of encouragement as he reached out to the next soul to save. This continued until all of the child’s closest friends are saved. However, Frisk falters a bit.

All of his closest friends are saved. What was he supposed to do now? Looking around he sees you and Chara floating in the dark abyss not too far away. You offer him a kind smile while Chara lifts his hand and waves. “You’re lost aren’t you?” Frisk quickly nods his head at your words. “Can’t you feel it though? There is one more person you need to save.” Frisk’s eyes widen in confusion before he turns back to Asriel and it hits him.

He holds his hands out to the God of Hyper Death a bright smile on his face. “ASRIEL!”

“Huh?! What are you doing?” Taken aback, the monster god falters before his next attack. “What… What did you do?! This feeling… what is this feeling inside of me…? No. NO! I don’t need anyone!” A massive amount of soul-like projectiles launch at Frisk who manages to dodge almost all of them.

“Asriel.” Frisk takes a couple steps forward with his arms outstretched.

The goat monster recoils. “STOP IT! Get away from me! Do you hear me? I’ll tear you apart!” Asriel attacks again but the number of projectiles is significantly smaller. 

The human dodges them effortlessly before holding out his arms to the monster again. “Asriel… please.”

“... Chara… Do you know why I am doing this…? Why I keep fighting to keep you around…?” Asriel stops there but your interest is peeked. Did he just call Frisk…Chara? You turned to the once evil child and he gave you a solemn smile.

“I told you… this was my fault.”

Flame magic is launched at Frisk but none of it comes even close. The child didn’t even have to move. Once the attack ended, Asriel spoke up. “I’m doing this… because you’re special. You’re one of two people that understands me.” More flames spark up only to not get close then fade away. “No… That’s not just it… I… I’m doing this because I care about you, Chara.”

You give Chara a soft smile. “It’s amazing that after everything… he cares about you so much.”

“I’m not the only one he cares about.” At this, the human ghost gave you a knowing look that confused you. “Who do you think that other person he was talking about is?”

“I-I’m not ready for this to end… I’m not ready for you to leave. I’m not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again. So, please… Stop doing this!” Tears were now falling freely down Asriel’s cheeks as he sobbed. “AND JUST LET ME WIN!” He brought his hands to the side before directing them right at Frisk. A powerful blast erupts and engulfs the human child in a laser of pure magic.

Frisk’s health drops but once again he refuses to die.

“STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!!!!” The blast continues until Asriel’s body fades a bit. All the color dissipating into a gray monotone. The blast fading along with it.

“Asriel…” Frisk simply said, offering his hand out to the monster again. 

“Chara… I’m so alone. I’m so afraid, Chara… Chara… I…” Asriel’s body fades to white as it morphs back into his small goat-like form. The one he had right before he died. He’s crying with both paws covering his face. “I’m so sorry.”

Frisk stays where he is at. Giving the goat child space to breathe. Not speaking. Just listening.

“I was always a crybaby wasn’t I, Chara? I know.” Asriel looks at his feet before looking back up at Frisk. “You aren’t really Chara. Chara has been gone for a long time.” He paused to collect himself again before continuing. “I haven’t felt like this for a long time. As a flower, I was soulless. I lacked the power to love other people. However, with everyone’s souls inside me…”

“Not everyone.” Chara breaks in and you have to hold back a snort. Asriel could still see you standing behind Frisk. Giving him a sweet smile. You didn’t want to break such a moment by laughing. Currently Chara was still invisible to his monster brother.

“I not only have my own compassion back but I can feel every other monster’s as well. They all care about each other so much.” Asriel wipes some more tears from his face. The fur already having wet tear trails in it. “And… they care about you too, Frisk. I wish I could tell you how everyone feels about you. Monsters are weird. Even though, they barely know you it feels like they all really love you. Frisk, I can understand if you can’t forgive me. I understand if you hate me. I acted so strange and horrible” At this, he looks up at you with an apologetic expression on his face that has your heart leaping into your throat.

“Told you he cared about you.” Chara’s tone was playfully snarky but you didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. Instead, you shushed the child as Asriel continued speaking.

“I hurt you. I hurt so many people. Friends, family, bystanders… There’s no excuse or what I’ve done.” Asriel lowered his head in shame in remembrance of all the horrible things he had done.

“Asriel, I have already forgiven you.” Frisk stated. His soft voice puncturing the silence of the void you were all currently in.

“Frisk, come on.” A small chuckle left the goat child as new tears formed. “You’re… You’re going to make me cry again. Besides, even if you do forgive me… I can’t keep these souls inside of me. The least I can do is return them. But first… It’s time for monsters to finally go free.” 

Bringing out the SOULS of the 6 children who had already passed and all of the monster SOULs he had accumulated, Asriel rose his hands and started chanting. With everyone’s power, determination, and strength flowing together in a flash of brilliant white light….

 

The Barrier broke.


	10. Chapter 9

Asriel stood by himself amongst a patch of golden flowers in his father’s throne room. He was hunched over breathing heavily as he fought the transformation of his body. After he had broken the barrier, the goat child had released all of the souls. Now that he no longer had them, he couldn’t keep that form anymore. All the other monsters had left to see the sky, leaving Asriel all alone. Sunset had finally finished and darkness filled the throne room.

You stand off to the side of the room with Chara next you. The two of you watching the child sulk as he fought the process as much as he could. Not really wanting to watch this anymore, you step forward with the human boy following hot on your heels. “What’s got your _goat_?” You say in a playful tone.

“Crow!” Asriel whips about to see the two of you standing behind him and his eyes grow wide. “Ch-Chara?!”

“Wait, he can see me?” Chara looked from his monster brother to you astonished before running forward and hugging the small goat tight.

“Of course, he can. He isn’t a flower… yet.” You mutter that last part to yourself but Asriel catches it anyway. Not bothering to mention what you did earlier. Your body was already feeling rather tired as it was.

“How..”

“Hm?”

“Just how have you helped me?!” The goat monster screeched at you from his position in his brother’s arms. “How have you helped anyone?! Yes, monsters are now free but the price that was paid! How many times did they die? How many times have bad things happened just for you to reach this desired outcome?”

You waited until he was done huffing at you before you responded. Though his words rather hurt. “If I had the ability to just break the barrier myself and let monsters free… I would have. But Crows do have a set of rules that we have to follow. We can’t get directly involved. If we did, wars could be stopped. History changed. Free will lost. But… I guess since this is the final hour, I can fill you in on everything now.”

A heavy sigh escaped you as you leaned against the throne with a tired expression on your face. The two boys sat in the flowers waiting patiently for you to speak. “Let’s start off with the power of reset. It allowed the person with the most determination in The Underground to reset back to a designated point if something went wrong. And it did. A lot. However, despite all the previous timelines no one would remember a reset happening. That’s what it means to reset. To start over. The only people who remembered timeline to timeline were you, Chara, Frisk, myself… and Sans. For some reason the memory erasing part of a reset didn’t affect him. I don’t know why. It just didn’t.”

“In order for the barrier to be broken, we needed 7 human souls. Which are rather hard to come by. Knowing that, I needed time to work with other Crows for souls of people who were going to pass away soon. Each time you reset, something changed. Whether it was big or small. No two timelines were 100% the same. Haven’t you ever wondered why the souls that got to Asgore never disappeared even if you reset immediately after? Whenever there was progress, I made sure that the point of reset was moved up with it. That’s how they were never lost or faded away.” You took a pause to see if the two kids had any questions and when they didn’t you continued on.

“Any who… That’s not the only thing I did. This all wasn’t just about finishing your quest to free the monsters. It was about the two of you as well. You both died prematurely. So… so young. Neither of you were ready to go to the afterlife. You both were scared. So I stayed by your sides. Encouraging you, playing with you, and getting to know the two of you… caring for you…” your eyes darted to Asriel when you said that last part but you quickly looked away. “It was… horrible to watch you kill everyone in elaborate ways over and over. But at the same time I stood by you anyway because someone had to be there for you because no one else could. You probably won’t believe me when I say this but I have, actually, broken so many rules during this. I’m supposed to be indifferent. I’m supposed to just be your guide but here I am directly involved! Emotionally and physically! When you two died… there were so many wrongs that needed to be righted and now that the monsters are free… there is still one more thing that needs to be fixed. I just didn’t realize that I would become… attached.”

The two boys looked at you completely confused. “I thought we were just pawns so that you could use us to get monsters free. What else needs to be done?” Chara had stated the first part whereas Asriel spoke up with the second.

“There is one more wrong that needs to be righted. Though… haven’t the two of you noticed how I haven’t been… as energetic as I, normally, am?” After that long speech you were already a bit winded.

“Yeah… I did notice.” The human boy said. “It seemed to start after you forcefully pulled me out of Frisk. You don’t have such a powerful aura as you used too.”

“Remember when I said I couldn’t bring you back without a body?” They both nodded at your words as you heaved another sigh. “Well, I kind of lied.”

“WHAT?!?”

“When I pulled you out of Frisk, I gave you your own body Chara. So you couldn’t possess him again.” So this was the outcome. Figures it would be this one. After a soft smile formed on your lips after realizing what you had to do, you stepped forward, kneeling down so that you were eye level with Asriel. Placing a soft kiss on his furry forehead, a brilliant light envelopes the room. When you pull away, the tattoo on his face remains for a few seconds before disappearing again.

Asriel blinked and stretched his arms. “It… doesn’t hurt…? I feel whole! Like I’m not changing anymore!”

“That’s because…you aren’t…” Without any warning, you collapse onto the golden flowers. Petals flying into the air only to gently drift back down.

“Hey, HEY!” The two boys dashed over to you. Their hands hovering over your small form unsure of what to do.

“Are you okay?!”

“What’s going on?”

You chuckle softly and you cringe painfully from the effort. “I can bring you back… but it comes with a price.” Turning a bit, you held up a hand. It was already starting to fade as you could see right through it. “In order to bring something back to life you must give life.” You were smiling to yourself. You overstepped your bounds. This was the price. Asriel and Chara’s faces went from concerned to absolute horror.

“NO! NO NO NO NO!” Chara cried out in anguish as dug his face into your shoulder. “I JUST STARTED GETTING ALONG WITH YOU AGAIN!”

“You…. You can’t die! You’re The Crow!” Asriel’s voice shook violently as he spoke. Fresh tears already making their way down his face. 

“We can… Though… not in the typical way everything else does. When we are born. We just… exist. We know what we are. We know what we are supposed to do. When we give life to bring back another… The cost is our own. It doesn’t matter the reason. We went against the natural order. This is the price we pay. Each Crow death is unique…I wonder…What mine will be…” Your vision was beginning to blur and you could no longer see your hand. There was still a chance that you could come back but there was no guarantee. It all depends on what the natural order decided. “At the cost of my own life… Everything is finally right.”

“NO, IT ISN’T!” Asriel pulled you into a tight hug. “You can’t leave! Not now! Not after everything is finally okay!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” You give him an encouraging smile as your arm and upper shoulders begin to fade. “Please… put me back on the ground.”

The goat child does as you ask and you wipe away his tears then Chara’s with your one good hand before it begins to fade as well. “What’s going to happen to you? Where will you go?” Asriel had to hold back several sniffles in order to speak.

This was something that you had never contemplated before. Death was something you helped others with, not experience yourself. “To be honest… I don’t know. Regardless… I’m happy…” With these words, the rest of your body faded into the ground. From it, a large black rose grew in the spot where your body laid a few moments prior. A beautiful black dot among all the golden flowers in the room.

“She’s gone… She’s really gone.” Chara mumbled under a torrent of tears. He latched himself onto Asriel and they both began to cry together.

“My goodness! What is that sound?”

“I don’t know, Tori. Why’d you want to come back here anyway?”

“Because, Sans, I had this feeling that I was forgetting somethi-..” the female goat monster’s words cut off in her throat as she rounded the corner into the throne room with the stout skeleton by her side. Asriel and Chara looked up at the shocked image of their mother. They both stood up and ran over to her without any hesitation. Burying their faces into her stomach as they continued to cry. “Asriel…? Chara…? Is that really you?” She wrapped her trembling arms around the children as tears of joy pricked her eyes. “I-I can’t believe this…”

Sans stood off to the side. Taking in the odd situation before him. How two dead kids where brought back to life, he wasn’t sure but he was happy for Toriel nonetheless. His eyes trailed away from the heartwarming scene only to find the one black rose that grew in the middle of the garden. He wandered over to it curiously. Everyone had just been in here a few moments ago and this hadn’t been here. It didn’t look recently planted either. He reached out his hand to touch one of the petals when he was pushed, forcefully, back a couple of feet. Standing between him and the rose was Asriel and Chara.

“Don’t hurt her!” Chara yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Sans.

Sans blinked his eye sockets perplexed. “Her?”

“Yes, her! Don’t hurt Crow!” It was Asriel’s turn to point his furry finger at Sans whose eye sockets went wide.

“Crow…?”

“That’s right! The Crow! Leave her alone!” Chara had both hands out shielding the black rose with his tiny body.

“No way…” Sans looked at the flower and then the two children. A grim realization dawning on the skeleton. His expression was solemn for only a few seconds before turning to look at the two children. “I would never hurt her guys. But I’ll _leaf_ her alone.” 

“That is a beautiful rose, children. Sans won’t hurt it.” Toriel walked over to the small group and took Asriel’s hand in one of hers with Chara’s in the other. A slight chuckle in her voice at how protective they were being. “Come, my children. Let us go and see the others.” With that, she led the two crying children out with the skeleton following close behind. “But since you two seem to care about it so much, we’ll make sure no one touches it.”


	11. Epilogue

“Why are we doing this exactly?” Frisk’s voice piped up as he and his two adoptive brothers made their way back to the entrance into The Underground. Chara and Asriel glanced at one another before looking back at Frisk. The autumn day was bright and crisp. Trees were already starting to lose their leaves as they crunched under the small groups’ shoes.

“We do this on the same day every year. No matter what. You were the one that wanted to come along this time.” Chara stated with annoyance in his voice. Clearly not happy that this question was brought up. 

Frisk pouted at the tone. “But mom’s going to be mad that we skipped school…”

“Then you can just go on off to school. WE’RE going inside.” Chara gestured to himself then Asriel.

“If you are going to be like that then maybe I will!” Frisk huffed, irritated at the dismissively rude way that Chara was treating him.

“Well then, go.”

“Well, FINE! But don’t get mad at me when mom finds out and punishes you two.” At that, Frisk turned on his heels and started heading back down the mountain while Chara laughed to himself.

“Chara… that wasn’t very nice.” Asriel finally spoke up. He had pulled himself up on to the cliff above and turned around to offer the human a hand up. “You know how excited he was about us finally letting him in on what we do every year.”

“I’ll apologize later. But come on! He could have easily confronted me! Instead, he just backed off and left.” Chara took his brother’s hand and together he was hoisted up onto the ridge.

Asriel arched an eyebrow at Chara. “So… this was one of your attempts to get Frisk to be less passive?”

“Maybe.” His monster companion kept up the skeptical look until the human caved. “Okay, fine! I didn’t want Frisk to come.”

“Why not?”

“Because! Frisk has secret things he does with other people that we don’t pry about. Why can’t we have something that is just the two of us?” Chara dug his hands deep into his hoodie pockets and kicked at a rock that he passed by as the two of them continued up the mountain. “I mean we include him in everything else we do… other than this.”

“Understandable… But you know that this kind of involves Frisk too. Does he even know about it?” Asriel stated though the last part didn’t appear to be to anyone in particular. Chara shrugged and let the conversation die until they were both standing right outside the cave that once had the barrier. The large cave mouth now had a brick wall built into the entrance with a steel door at the base. Asriel produced a key from his jacket pocket and unlocked the door which opened with an eerie squeak. “So. What are you going to talk about this time?”

Chara shrugged. “I don’t know. Nothing to exciting has really happened in the past year. What about you?”

“Nothing exciting? We’re graduating high school this year! We are, officially, adults! How is that not something exciting?” Asriel looked at his brother incredulously as he pulled out a flashlight from a small pack on his back and led the way inside.

“Are you serious? You are going to discuss school? Frisk is rubbing off on you.” Chara ran up to playfully ruffle the white fur all over his brother’s face.

“Hey, HEY! Stooopp! This can be a bitch to keep neat.” Asriel tried to push the human off to no avail.

“Awwww… Afraid I’ll mess up your pretty tattoo?” Chara made a point of going for the crow tattoo that lined his brother’s forehead over the fur before Asriel pushed his hands away.

“You know as well as I do that the only people who can see it are people who have had near death experiences or about to die. It’s not real. At least not…physically real? I don’t know, man! You know what I mean.” Asriel huffed, tapping his foot in annoyance as he waited on his brother.

Chara moved to shut the door behind them. Monsters still lived in The Underground and humans weren’t allowed down without express permission from the King, himself. It was an attempt to protect those monsters from any humans who may not be as kind. “You know… that was something that I was always curious about. That was your direct link to Crow, right? When she died shouldn’t it of faded away or somethin?”

Now it was Asriel’s turn to shrug. “Maybe…? I don’t know how Reaper magic works Chara.” He reached up and touched that tattoo with a light pink dusting on his cheeks.

“Ooooo… You liked her.” Chara waggled his eyebrows mockingly. “Maybe that’s why it didn’t leave. You magic connected to your feelings and it made it stick.”

“S-Shut up!” Asriel’s voice cracked a bit at the end before moving further down the hallway towards the castle.

“ _Oh my God_. It isn’t past tense. You DO like her! Now your lack of a girlfriend or boyfriend throughout school makes sense.” Chara nodded his head as he strutted behind his brother. A playful smirk gracing his features moments later. Heckling his brothers was one of his favorite past times. “It’s not like you didn’t have people who wanted to be with you either. There was that one blonde chick, that bunny girl…”

Asriel rolled his eyes despite the fact that Chara couldn’t see it. “Yeah, yeah. My love life is SO funny.”

Chara lowered his head at the condescending tone in Asriel’s voice. “Hey, man. I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.”

“I know, I know.” Asriel stopped right outside the doorway that led to the throne room. Every year they had come to visit the mysterious black rose that had grown in the center of the garden the day The Underground went empty. Some monsters took it as a sign that they never would have to go back whereas others took it in a more ominous light. That it was just a premonition of a future of being forced back underground. Several monsters had tried to uproot it only to be stopped by Asriel and Chara who had taken to camping in the throne room during the early transition of monsters into human society. When word reached him, Asgore had decreed that no one was allowed to touch the rose once he learned how important it was to two of his sons. From then on the only ones to ever dare go near it were Asriel and Chara. Though they suspected the occasional visit from Sans. Sometimes there was an empty bottle of ketchup next to a full one by the throne. 

From their position in the other room, the two boys could see the golden light cascading into the throne room from the stained glass ceiling above. The fake sun of The Underground still lighting the way. Chara moved to stand next to his brother and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Come on. She hasn’t seen us in a year. I bet she can’t wait a moment longer. Even if school is all you are going to talk about.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Asriel pocketed the flashlight and walked into the room only to stop a few seconds later. “What…? Happened here?” The golden flowers that had originally just been on the floor had now taken over the entire room over the years. No one came into this room except them once a year so the flowers were allowed to grow as they pleased. This time there was a perfect circle that surrounded the throne of nothing but dead shriveled flowers. The diameter falling a couple feet short from the edges of the room.

Chara froze. His eyes frantically searching for one flower in particular. “I-Is her’s okay?” From their position, the black rose was completely shielded by the large throne that had been abandoned. The two boys shared a distressed look before running around the opposite sides of the chair and stopping dead in their tracks.

“Oh! Hello, boys! Has it been a year already?”

There.

Sitting on the throne, giving the monster and human the brightest smile ever, was The Crow. 

“CROW!” Both boys were hugging you as soon as they collected themselves. Asriel went so far as to lay several sloppy kisses on your cheek and forehead.

“This has to be a dream.”

“We thought that we lost you!”

“How are you here?!”

You chuckled slightly at their questions while hugging them back in return. Chara, eventually, backed off and it was just Asriel showering you with love. You just let him. “Isn’t it obvious?” The boys shook their heads and you caught Asriel’s chin gently in your hand. Guiding his face, you placed a soft kiss on his furry lips that had his white fur turning scarlet. The tattoo around on his forehead shining brilliantly. You chuckled at his reaction when you pulled away. “It’s simple.” Your hand gesturing to the dead flowers that surrounded your seat then back at yourself. The black rose’s petals scattered amongst the dead fauna that it had killed by absorbing their life force. That had been your requirement. You gave them a playful wink. “There was one more wrong that needed to be righted.” Moving your face to nuzzle Asriel’s you gave Chara a soft smile.

“Now everything is fixed.”

 

Legend Of The Crow

**The End**  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With that, Legend Of The Crow draws to a close. Thank you all for the support and love! This was so much fun to write. I hope you all had as much fun as I did!


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